Details of 99 UK drone strikes in Afghanistan revealed

The British Ministry of Defence has carried out 248 drone strikes in Afghanistan to date, of which 60% are ‘secret and unreported’, a report has revealed.

The report, by respected blog Drone Wars UK, looks back through operational updates published by the Royal Air Force (RAF) since June 2008. It is the first time that UK drone attacks in Afghanistan have been collated and charted.

However, the group suspect their list is merely a ‘peak behind the curtain’. Details of only 99 of the 248 drone strikes have been revealed by the RAF (the total number being obtained through a Freedom of Information request), and the group feels that reports may have been ‘cherry-picked’, possibly to tone down collateral damage.

Its not just US guilty of murdering innocent civilians with drones;

For instance, says the report,’a British strike that took place on 25th March 2011 in which at least four civilians were killed was not mentioned in the weekly reports and all reports of Reaper activity ceased for eight weeks after’.

www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

The US and Obama have been getting a lot of stick , and rightly so, for their indulgence in lauching umanned drone attacks. I think there are simply to avoid more gitmo prisons. They can murder 'suspects' without any need for a trial or investigation.

Now we have some news on what the Brits have been getting up with their drones. I wonder how many of the British public were aware of what the government was up to on their behalf.

www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

reply to post by lacrimaererum


thanks for bringing this to my attention , i had no idea that we were doing these cowardly attacts.
and i say cowardly because these things usually kill the innocent that in the area at the time.
also i might add that these are freedom fighters not terrorists , they are fighting an invading force and have every right to resist.

and to all of you that can not see this , you must ask yourself what would you do if your country was invaded ?

Very interesting, I wasn't aware anyone other than US (and Iran ) had them, makes you wonder if they have been deployed during mass rallies in London, I bet they have!

UK drone use needs more investigation for sure! Guess all the withdrawing troops stuff is just for the general public.

S&F

Seems they drones have been deployed since October 2007

defense-update.com...

THere is also more info on the UK spend on drones and plans for the future.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) will spend over half a billion pounds on acquiring and sustaining armed Reaper drones on operations in Afghanistan between 2007 and 2015, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism can confirm.

the UK purchasing its first lethal drones in 2006: two Reapers from US manufacturer General Atomics. The UK MoD confirmed to the Bureau that it has budgeted to spend a further £506m with the company by 2015 on its armed drones programme.

The Ministry of Defence is examining ways of expanding its combat drone fleet. The new Watchkeeper surveillance drone, which comes online next year, already has the capacity to be armed.

And the UK is also looking beyond Reaper with its new Scavenger project. According to the MoD this will ‘provide UK forces with a theatre-wide, persistent Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) capability and an ability to attack land and maritime time-sensitive targets’. The new system is expected to enter service in 2020 and bids are underway.

www.thebureauinvestigates.com...

reply to post by lacrimaererum


for f**k sake

i get taxed to the max, we are cutting peoples benefit, people are losing jobs, and we want to spend half a billion on drones?

GRRRR!!!

reply to post by thegoatboy


Those in the armed forces are classed as public servants also are they not?

After all we pay their wages and they fight for us.

Now we all can see, the reasons behind the defense review, more drones at the expense of boots on the ground or pilots. They can afford to buy these drones but cannot afford to give soldiers, airmen or navy personnel the correct accommodation or resources.

A complete waste of money.....

i reckon what they are doing is with-drawl the troops deploy the drones simple, use drones to replace soldiers in that area and redeploy soldiers else where.

Originally posted by tom.farnhill
reply to post by lacrimaererum

 

thanks for bringing this to my attention , i had no idea that we were doing these cowardly attacts.
and i say cowardly because these things usually kill the innocent that in the area at the time.

So you think the bomber pilots and crew of World War II were cowardly? They killed many more innocents.

also i might add that these are freedom fighters not terrorists , they are fighting an invading force and have every right to resist.

They're fighting the government of Afghanistan and her allies. You may agree with the Taliban that the government of Afghanistan is not legitimate, but the international community does not.

The Taliban will target anyone who oppose their beliefs. Generally, they are not freedom fighters as not only do they attacking coalition troops, but the Afghan security forces. Men from their own villages/communities who have decided that they want to make their country better.

'Drones' are far from being a waste of money. The fact that Reapers (or Predators) are armed does not mean that they are deployed purely to take out enemy combatants. They are largely used for reconnaissance and provide force protection for troops on the ground. They can spot ground disturbance for placed IED’S and are generally more accurate than sending in a Platoon of infantry to take on any persistent threat. I for one would rather have a drone that, whilst providing real time intelligence to those who need it whilst on active patrol, has the ability to strike at a moments notice and potentially, prevent further casualties.

The fact that details have been withheld from some of the missions does not mean it is necessarily sinister. It may be for Operational Security reasons etc. Just because you don’t have all the details, it does not automatically make it ominous.

One of the worse things with these drone attacks is that they get soldiers to play video games but in real life. This disconnects the soldiers from reality to a degree. They see real human beings as just a bunch of pixels on a screen.

reply to post by TheMindWar


I don't think the fact you are viewing images through a TV screen makes it feel like you are playing a video game. The point is, whether you are viewing a target from a computer thousands of miles away or aiming through a sight at close range, you know the difference between what is a game and what is real life IMHO.

If anything, the pilots of these drones will in most cases, have time to think about the consequences of their actions. When the SHTFon the ground, the average soldier will act on adrenaline and have to make rushed decisions based on his immediate threat to life.

I do agree however that it is a slightly less personable experience when viewed through a monitor, so I am not completely challenging your theory!

Here is an update to this case, it seems legal action has been initiated in the High Court on behalf of a victim killed in a strike,

www.bbc.co.uk...