U.S. drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/21/world/la-fg-afghanistan-drones-20130222



A $26+ million dollar Predator drone fires a $160 grand Raytheon Hellfire missile

U.S. drone strikes up sharply in Afghanistan
February 21, 2013|By Shashank Bengali and David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times

KABUL, Afghanistan — One morning recently, a teenager named Bacha Zarina was collecting firewood on her family's small farm in eastern Afghanistan. About 30 yards away, as family members recall, two Taliban commanders stood outside a house.

A missile screamed down from the sky, killing the two men instantly. Two chunks of shrapnel flew at Bacha Zarina and lodged in her left side.

~snip~

The U.S. military launched 506 strikes from unmanned aircraft in Afghanistan last year, according to Pentagon data, a 72% increase from 2011 and a sign that American commanders may begin to rely more heavily on remote-controlled air power to kill Taliban insurgents as they reduce the number of troops on the ground.

Though drone strikes represented a fraction of all U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan last year, their use is on the rise even as American troops have pulled back from ground and air operations and pushed Afghan soldiers and police into the lead. In 2011, drone strikes accounted for 5% of U.S. air attacks in Afghanistan; in 2012, the figure rose to 12%.

[Peregrine]

1. So