(Previous Incident Code: Ob353 )

A CIA drone strike killed between four and nine people in a strike on a house and possibly a vehicle in the Shawal area of North Waziristan.

Two “foreigners” were thought to be among the dead, according to a local government official. They were described as “with al Qaeda” by an unnamed intelligence official. However a “militant in the area” of the strike told Reuters the strike killed Pakistani fighters.

“The drone fired two missiles, killing at least eight people and injuring two others,” a security official told AFP. “There may be more dead bodies under the rubble.”

The Express Tribune subsequently reported nine were killed in the strike. The death toll rose because more bodies were found among the wreckage, according to an anonymous security official. The dead reportedly included “two associates of the Haqqani group,” as well as four members of Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s armed group and three Uzbeks.

The Pakistani government protested the attack, saying in a statement that as it was “taking decisive action against terrorist elements in North Waziristan Agency” the drone strikes have been rendered “completely unnecessary“.

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