(Previous Incident Code: B26 )

A US drone strike killed up to 25 people, the majority civilian children, women and men, and wounded more than 20, as the house of Haqqani Network’s leader in Miram Shah, North Waziristan, was struck, local and international media reported.

“Five missiles fired from an American pilotless aircraft on Monday hit a large compound in North Waziristan belonging to one of Pakistan’s most prominent Taliban leaders, two Pakistani intelligence officials and a local resident said,” reported the New York Times. Dawn reported that “the family home, a guesthouse and a seminary owned by Maulvi Jalaluddin were destroyed.”

The death toll spanned across the reports from minimum 17 to 25, hereof including up to 20 civilians; eight women, five children and seven men. Reportedly, all were members of Haqqani’s family.

The local administration collected data on drone strikes in internal records. According to these records five missiles hit the madrassa, and at least 13 family members of Taliban leader Haqqani were reportedly among the dead including eight grandchildren (mostly girls), a wife, his elder sister, his sister-in-law, two nieces, possibly a son and other relatives. Girls from the village may also have been killed.

Moreover, al Jazeera noted that “doctors reported that more than 20 wounded – mostly women and children – were taken to Miranshah’s main hospital.” At least 14 civilians were wounded, as reported on other platforms.

The News, who cited a resident who had witnesses the strike, reported that “most of the bodies were mutilated and beyond recognition (…). The militants and villagers faced difficulties in retrieving the injured from the rubble and called for a crane. With the help of crane, the residents said, they recovered the injured people.”

While the main target, Haqqani, was not hit (as he reportedly had travelled to Afghanistan at the time), between four and 15 militants were reported killed in the strike. The killed included Abu Haris, Al Qaeda’s chief in Pakistan; Saudis Abdullah and Abu Hamza, an explosives expert and al Qaeda commander in Pewshawar; Zain Ul Abu Qasim aka Hakaimi, an Egyptian Al Qaeda chief.

The Long War, who did not identify the militants by name, said that a total of 15 were killed; nine Arab al Qaeda operatives and six Taliban fighters.

All sources blamed US drones, though the the US only secretly admitted that it had caused civilian deaths:

“A Predator killed several Haqqani sub-commanders and a number of Arabs. Members of the extended Haqqani family were killed.”

In a rare outburst, France’s foreign ministry spokesman condemned as ‘counterproductive’ the ‘bombings that took place in Pakistan and left civilian casualties, in particular in the Pakistani tribal areas on Monday.’