(Previous Incident Code: Ob257 )

Up to nine militants, mostly Turkmeni, were killed in a US strike on two vehicles in Dogga, 18 miles west of Miranshah. Reuters reported a Pakistani intelligence source as saying: ”The missiles hit two cars that were heading towards the border. Several foreigners were in the cars, but we have no information on their nationalities yet.’ The News reported those killed

Were sitting in their vehicles after performing their Maghrib prayers when they came under attack. They said the double cabin pick-up vehicle caught fire and four men were killed on the spot. Their badly mutilated bodies were pulled out of the destroyed vehicle later. Another person, villagers said, was killed in the car. His body was mutilated and beyond recognition. There was no way to ascertain the identity of the slain men.’

Reports for a while claimed that Pakistan Taliban (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud may have been killed in the attack, based on radio intercepts. The TTP denied the claim. This and the previous strike were joint US-Pakistani operations, Reuters reported. Pakistani operatives coordinated the strike from the ground, despite the tense relations between the two allies. ‘Our working relationship is a bit different from our political relationship,’ the agency’s anonymous source remarked. He said ‘Al Qaeda is our top priority’, and said cooperation with the UK intelligence services was extensive. He outlined how cooperation between the US and Pakistan worked:

We run a network of human intelligence sources…Separately, we monitor their cell and satellite phones…Thirdly, we run joint monitoring operations with our US and UK friends.