(Previous Incident Code: Ob203 )

In an alleged US drone strike, up to seven people, possibly counting civilians, were killed and ten were injured as a  double-cabin truck and and a motorbike, reportedly crossing from Afghanistan, were struck in Angor Adda, south Waziristan, local and international news reported.

Following the strike, where a house was also damaged, sources said that at least four and as many as seven were killed while six to ten were injured. It was, however, unclear across sources whether the casualties were militants or civilians. For example, political administration official Khiyal Gul told Pajhwok that he was unable to ascertain whether militants or civilians were killed in the raid.

However, another named villager, Salim, however, told the same agency that those killed were militants. Also, an anonymous US official told the New York Times that the target was forces linked to Maulvi Nazir, a Taliban commander fighting Nato forces across the border.

“These operations are consistent with the US-Pakistan agreements that have been in place for some time. This was about protecting Americans in the region. This is not about sending a signal to Pakistan.”

A spokesman with Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry later condemned the strike, coming as it did days after the head of Pakistan’s intelligence service had complained to Washington about the drone strikes: “Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter-terror campaign. Pakistan has taken up the matter with the US at all levels,” a ministry statement read. CNN also reported a senior Pakistani intelligence official as saying:

“It’s unilateral action. What is this? A message [from the Americans] that it’s business as usual, irrespective of what we ask of you? If it is, it’s a crude way of getting your message across.”

All sources blamed a US drone, specified as a Predator drone, for carrying out the strike.