(Previous Incident Code: B8a )

Up to four people, most likely, but not confirmed, militants, were killed in a ground and air-waged operation in Zarghar Khel, North Waziristan, carried out by the Pakistani Army or US military, local and international media reported.

Local sources, cited by international media, reported how Pakistani ground forces, assisted by helicopters carried out a raid in Zarghar Khel, killing up to four men, allegedly in the age between 15 and 20.

According to The News, the status and identities of those killed was disputed. Although some news agencies reported the men to be Uzbek militants, villagers insisted those killed were locals.

“The bodies of the four men were flown in a helicopter to Miranshah. Those who saw the bodies said they were young men aged 15 to 20 years. Tribesmen who identified them said three of them were from Paryat village, sited close to Zargarkhel where the military operation was conducted, while the fourth was from Dattakhel. The bodies were later taken to Paryat and Dattakhel for burial. Subsequently, another report said three of the dead were from Khyber Agency and the fourth was from Bajaur Agency. None of these reports were confirmed by any independent source,” as reported by the News.

The News also reported that two were left wounded, though their status was unclear.

The attack also led to the resignation of 15 tribal elders overseeing a peace deal between Pakistan’s government and ‘good’ Taliban factions. Malik Nasrullah Khan, head of the tribal council, told Reuters:

“The government sent us for negotiations with the mujahideen (militants) but they launched an attack before we returned and submitted our repor. Under the agreement, the government had to take us into confidence before conducting any operation. They didn’t do so and that’s why we’re resigning.”

In news reports at the time the Pakistan military claimed that the attack was its own work. Such ‘cover’ had previously been thought to have ended in 2006. Military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad told reporters that “Four miscreants were killed when security forces launched an operation to bust a terrorist training camp at Zargarkhel. Helicopters were also there.”

However, in April 2013, with the leaking of secret US intelligence documents to news agency McClatchy, a CIA drone strike was reported on this date.

The target was an alleged militant training camp in North Waziristan, with the strike said to have been carried out at the request of Pakistan’s ISI intelligence service. According to McClatchy, the ISI made the request after a Pakistan army assault was driven off. A source told McClatchy that Pakistan had requested the strike despite an agreement that ‘drones wouldn’t be used to support Pakistani troops in combat’.