(Previous Incident Code: Ob351 )

Between four and seven people were killed in a CIA drones strike in the Datta Khel area.

Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) said two of their fighters were killed in this strike. Pakistan Army Major Adil Abdul Quddus and Dr Sarbuland (aka Abu Khalid). They were both members of AQIS according to Osama Mahmood, a spokesman for the group.

Mahmood also said Sarbuland’s two sons were killed in the strike. They were identified as Uzair, 13, and Suleman, 15. Three unnamed Taliban fighters also told Reuters Sarbaland’s sons were killed in the strike. They told the agency a missile hit Sarubuland’s house. The people inside, including Sarbaland’s sons, tried to escape in a pick-up truck but it was destroyed by a second missile, the Taliban fighters said. According to initial reports the attack either hit a building and a vehicle, or a moving vehicle.

Geo TV reported Quddus was Sarbuland’s brother-in-law. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the September 11 2001 attacks on the US, was arrested in the house of Ahmed Abdul Quddus – Adil Abdul’s brother – in Rawalpindi in March 2003. Adil Quddus was arrested shortly after his brother and Mohammed were taken into custody. He was court martialled, sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2008.

Sarbuland reportedly used to run a hospital for Taliban fighters in North Waziristan. He was “a competent surgeon, as well as the finest instructor of battlefield. He fought both against the Russians and the US” according to the AQIS spokesman.

The attack hit the Dawa Toi valley – a thickly forested area near the Afghan border, according to Dawn. An intelligence official told the paper “the valley is infested with local and foreign militants”. It was the first strike in the Datta Khel area in over a month – it is the ninth strike to hit in and around Datta Khel this year. It has historically been home to members of the various armed groups operating in North Waziristan and has been a particular focus of Pakistan military offensive in North Waziristan.

The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again condemned the strike – a common response to the CIA attacks. In a statement, it said the strikes are a “violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially at a time when our authorities are engaged in taking decisive action against terrorist elements in North Waziristan.”

A drone strike killed six people on the Afghan side of the border later the same day. The attack hit near the border with Pakistan’s tribal areas, but to the north of where the CIA drones hit in Pakistan. The Afghan attack reportedly killed alleged members of the Taliban, including a Pakistani national.