(Previous Incident Code: Ob217 )

An alleged US attack on a housing compound in a forested area of the Shawal valley by four or five drones killed up to 24 people, possibly counting civilians, and up to six wounded, local and international media reported.

Following the strike, sources reported between 15 and 24 fatalities – though it should be noted that the death toll might conflate with another strike later on the same day that killed up to four people (see Ob218).

Some sources linked the dead to Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s group, with the housing compound described as “a major training centre.”

Many sources described the dead as “suspected militants,” including “foreigners” – a term often used to describe foreign militants.

However, civilian harm cannot be ruled out as several sources, including BBC and The News, merely described the killed and wounded as “people.”

Villagers took part in the rescue work, with The News noting that: “Tribesmen living in the valley said local people arrived on the spot an hour after the attack and retrieved the bodies and injured trapped under the debris of the destroyed building.”