(Previous Incident Code: Ob175 )

An alleged US strike in Shera Tala, Mir Ali, north Waziristan, killed up to 21 suspected militants, local and international media reported, though some source indicated that the fatalities possibly counted civilians.

Early in the morning of December 27th, unmanned aircraft reportedly fired four missiles at one vehicle, killing six people, and then later (confusingly reported as both minutes later and hours later), another six missiles struck the second car, killing up to 15 people.

Overall, sources reported that the double strike on the two trucks killed between 18 and 21 people, mainly reported as alleged TTP militants. The killed included five local commanders named as Zahid Mandev; Qari Barkatullah; Qari Monib; Fazal Amin and Qari Ihsanullah. A February 2012 report published by Associated Press, based on extensive interviews with locals, confirmed that “18 militants including four foreigners died.”

However, a secret Pakistani document published by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in January 2014 said 20 people were killed in this attack – all locals, and thus not excluding that civilians possibly were among the killed.

Between four and five people were left wounded.

Because not all sources describe the victims as militants, civilian harm cannot, as of now, be ruled out.

Later on the same day, the US allegedly carried out another strike (Ob176), and the final death toll of the day, thus amounted to 25.