(Previous Incident Code: B5c )

Up to 14 people where killed, hereof two children, and as many as 12 suspected militants, including a ‘top ranking al Qaeda militant’ Mohsin Musa Matawalli Atwah, as a US or Pakistan-waged strike hit Naghar Kalai, North Waziristan, international media reported.

A house was reportedly destroyed in the attack. Village elder Khan Wazir said: “There was a huge explosion, which we think was a missile attack, before the helicopters came and bombed the house.”

The total number of fatalties spanned from nine to 14. Both sources reporting about the strike, reported the death of two children, while the number of killed belligerents spanned from seven to 12.

According to Pakistani intelligence officials, cited by AP, the raid killed nine people in all; two young brothers who lived in the house, ages two years and two months, and at least seven militants – including five non-Pakistanis.

Meanwhile, NBC put the death toll at 14, saying that most of the victims were suspected militants, besides the two child fatalities.

The most prominent target, Atwah, was an Egyptian bomb maker wanted in connection with US Embassy bombings in East Africa. The US had offered a $5m bounty for the man they accused of training the bombers who attacked US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya on August 7th, 1998, killing 12 Americans and over 200 Africans. One US intelligence official told NBC: “He is a significant player, an explosives expert, a bomb maker.”

NBC was the only source to carry allegations this was a drone strike, reported by some local residents. US officials refused to comment on these claims and Pakistani intelligence officials denied US involvement, saying a Pakistan Army helicopter gunship attacked the village.