(Previous Incident Code: B17 )

An alleged US strike in Zeralita, north Waziristan, killed up to three civilians, one woman and two young boys, as up to 12 alleged militants were killed, including a leasding al-Qai’da figure, media reported.

The alleged US drone launched four missiles, targeting and killing al Qaeda’s “chemical weapons team,” most notably its leader Abu Khabab al Masri.

Between six and 12 people were killed in the strike – hereof of to three civilians; the second wife of Abu Khabab and their two children. Al Qaeda also reported that “several of their children” died.

The Long War Journal cited the then-CIA Director, Michael V. Hayden, who reportedly apologised for any collateral damage, referring to the news about three civilian deaths.

However, AFP reported that Khabab’s 18 year old son was killed, while his second wife, a Pakistani, and another son “were being treated at a hospital in Wana,” thus changing the figures from three civilian deaths to just one and two injured.

A US counter terrorism official told the Los Angeles Times shortly after the attack: “There is indeed a sense that he’s gone. This guy [Abu Khabab] not only had knowledge that was dangerous but did dangerous things with it.”

Besides from Abu Khabab, several militants were killed, including Egyptian nationalise from the “chemical weapons team”,  Abu Mohammad Ibrahim bin Abi al Faraj al Masri, a religious leader; Abdul Wahhab al Masri and Abu Islam al Masri

The FATA government’s internal drone strike records showed seven ‘non-local’ people were killed in this strike. Local militant commander Maulvi Nazir said that the head of the seminary and an unspecified number of students also died. The CIA secretly apologised the next day for ‘collateral damage’ during a meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Yousef Raza Gilani, according to the Washington Post.

In May 2013, Asia Times identified a man with the false name ‘Sher Khan’ as having supplied intelligence to the US which had resulted in the attack. The Taliban later attempted to capture him:

“One evening in 2008, on the seventh of Ramadan [September 8th], Sher Khan was traveling home on his motorcycle from a neighboring village when a group of Taliban asked him to stop. He asked them to let him park his bike but instead took off and managed to escape, eventually reaching Peshawar. After spending a week in there, Khan left for Islamabad and applied for a visa to Abu Dhabi to work as a light vehicle driver. He left for Abu Dhabi later that year, and he still works there as a pickup truck driver. Khan has been forbidden by the Taliban from entering his hometown, and if they even find out he is somewhere else in Pakistan they have vowed to kill him.”

The US is yet to confirm its involvement in the strike. Though a senior American official, cited by Los Angeles Times,  said that the strike was a “strictly unilateral” one by the U.S., other US military sources, cited by The News, denied US’ culpability. US-led coalition spokesman Lieutenant Nathan Perry told AFP:

“This is not true. We have no reports of missiles being fired into Pakistan”