The U.S. military appears to have conducted yet another “over-the-horizon” strike into Pakistan’s Taliban and al Qaeda-controlled tribal areas. At least 14 Pakistanis and “foreigners” – which means al Qaeda – were killed in a missile attack on the home of a Taliban commander in the tribal agency of Bajaur.

Ed at Hot Air said Mullah Obaidullah Ahkund, the Taliban’s defense minister prior to 2001 and a senior member of Taliban’s Shura Majlis, or executive council, was killed in the attack. But this may be a case of mistaken identity, which happens so often in these types of incidents. Obaidullah was reported to have been arrested in Quetta in February while raising money for the Taliban in Afghanistan. And the Pakistani newspaper Dawn said the home was that of Maulavi Obaidullah, “a local militant commander.”

Regardless of who was killed in the attack, this is the fourth such attack inside Pakistani territory since the end of January. The most successful strike took out Abu Laith al Libi, a senior al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.

The U.S. military is clearly concerned about the Taliban and al Qaeda’s growing strength in the tribal regions. With the new Pakistani government’s obsession with negotiating with the Taliban and ceding control of the tribal regions and the Northwest Frontier Province to the Taliban, and by default al Qaeda, the U.S. may need to rely on such strikes to take out senior terrorist leaders.

While the removal of terrorist leaders and the destructions of safe houses and camps proves useful in disrupting operations, it does little to change the overall situation, which is characterized by Taliban and al Qaeda control of the territories.