(Previous Incident Code: B4 )

Up to six people, including two children and one woman, were killed by an alleged US drone strike in Haisori, North Waziristan, international and local media reported, though the US is yet to officially confirm its involvement.

At least three al-Qaida members were killed in the strike. Several reported the death of Abu Hamza Rabia, who, by some had been reported death during an alleged US strike on November 5th, 2005 (B3). Besides from Rabia, two other foreign militants were also reported dead: Suleiman al Moghrabi and Amer Azizi – both linked to the Madrid train bombings.

A local source, cited by Dawn, said that five people were killed: two local men, two Tajiks and an Arab named Suleiman al-Moghrabi. NBC News in the United States reported that Hamza was killed by a CIA missile attack.

Several media platforms reported that the strike had two children and one woman. The woman was reportedly Azizi’s Spanish wife Raquel Burgos Garcia. The two children, who were an 8-year old named Noor Aziz and a 17-year old named Abdul Wasit. The children were nephew and son respectively of house-owner Mohammad Siddiq, who survived.

Rabia was reportedly either a Syrian or Egyptian al Qaeda operative. His death was confirmed by then-Pakistan president Perves Musharaf who, when asked if Rabia was killed in a missile strike, said: “Yes indeed, 200 percent confirmed.” He was killed in North Waziristan, Musharaf continued. “It is a place called Mirali, or little north of this town, that’s the place… I think he was killed the day before yesterday [December 2 2004], if I am not wrong.”

Then-Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao said: “[Rabia] was a very important al Qaeda commander,’ adding: ‘Five people were killed in the explosion and we have identified that one of them was Hamza Rabia. There were two other foreigners but we do not know their identities.”

The US has not officially confirmed that they were behind the strike, though all known sources pointed to the US military.

Officially, Pakistani authorities claimed that the bombardment was triggered by explosives stored in the house in Haisori village that had detonated accidentally, though anonymous intelligence experts reported that the strikes had been carried out by missiles, as reported by Family and Security.

Thus, media speculation suggested that multiple Predator drones took part in the attack. Then-US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, when asked whether the US had killed Rabia, said:

“We’ve obviously been supporting Pakistan. President Musharraf has been very aggressive in dealing with the Al Qaeda and Taliban presence in Pakistan. We have helped him in terms of providing intelligence and cooperating with his forces, and obviously this is something that would be an important thing for Pakistan, important thing for the United States.”

Photographer Hayatullah Khan recorded the remains of a US Hellfire missile at the site, providing the first substantial proof of US involvement. He was kidnapped on December 5 2005 and murdered by assailants unknown, although his widow (herself later assassinated in 2007) blamed Pakistan’s intelligence service, the ISI. Khan’s brother at one point also accused US forces of holding his brother prior to his death.

This attack was carried out with prior approval from the ISI. Pakistani intelligence officers were shown the feed from predators circling over the targets by the CIA, according to a former US intelligence officer.