Report: Obama Expanding Pakistan Missile Strikes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}With two U.S. missile strikes in Pakistan over the past week, the Obama Administration has expanded the covert war run by the CIA, the New York Times reported.
Compounds within Pakistan were targeted by strikes last Saturday and again on Monday.
They were aimed at training camps run by Baitullah Mehsud, identified by officials as the man who had orchestrated the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto was the wife of Asif Ali Zardari, Pakistan's current president.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The missile strikes on Mehsud camps demonstrate the Obama Administration's expansion of the Pakistan campaign, mostly carried out by drone aircraft, and the use of U.S. spy agencies against terrorism suspects.
While the Bush Administration frequently attacked militants, they did not specifically target Mehsud and his followers.
The strike on Monday was aimed at a camp run by Hakeem Ullah Mehsud, a top aide to Mehsud, officials say.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It is unclear why the Obama Administration carried out the attacks, but they could signal to Zardari a U.S. willingness to target militants of high importance.
Senior officials confirmed to FOX News earlier this week that Pakistan has been aiding the U.S. in its Predator unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas, despite its leaders' very public protests that they see the strikes as a breach of sovereignty.
There have been 30 strikes since August with 11 top leaders of Al Qaeda taken out, according to intelligence reports.
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