(Previous Incident Code: Ob213 )

A US drone allegedly killed up to 12 people, mostly reported as militants, and injured another three as it struck a compound in Ghwa Khwa, south Waziristan, local and international media reported.

The death toll spanned across sources from at least five to as many as 12, with the large majority reporting that the killed were militants.  However, several reports said that nine “people” were killed and only specified that at least one of these was a militant, why it cannot be ruled out that civilians were among the remaining eight killed.

However, the strike gained much attention as Ilyas Kashmiri, Al Qaeda affiliate and senior commander, was reported killed as he slept in an orchard along with up to 11 other militants, some named as Mohammad Usman, Ibrahim, Ustad Ahmad Farooq, Amir Hamza and Imran. Others killed were described as “members of the Punjabi Taliban and some belonging to the Ahmadzai Wazir and Afridi tribes.” An alternative narrative, reported by The News, reports that Kashmiri was only injured in the strike, and was later killed in another CIA attack in nearby Wacha Dana on either June 6 or June 15 2011.

Despite Pakistan insisting that Kashmiri had died, suspicions were almost immediately raised. Only days earlier US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had reportedly presented Pakistan with a “death list” of senior militants the US wanted killed. Some saw the timing of his reported death as suspicious. Six weeks later reports began emerging that Kashmiri had survived. But on August 30th, Asia Times reported that the 313 Brigade, Kashmiri’s unit, had appointed a new commander. It has been claimed that the US State Department was “angry” that this strike, along with Ob214 and Ob215, had taken place. (AP)

In early March 2012 a report again claimed that Kashmiri was still alive, and had attended a Pakistan Taliban meeting in the tribal areas. But on March 10th, Al Qaeda’s media wing released a video in which it acknowledged the “martyrdom” of Kashmiri. On May 18th, 2012, the United Nations Security Council listed Kashmiri as deceased. Ustad Farooq had, however survived, releasing a video eulogy to a dead comrade in the same month. In August 2012 it was claimed that Kashmiri had survived the initial June 3 attack, only to be killed the following week in Azam Warsak by a drone as he recuperated.