(Previous Incident Code: Ob226 )

An attack on a guesthouse killed up to six alleged militants and injured five. Suspected Australian militant and convert Saif Ullah was later named among the dead, along with Zahirullah. The Bureau’s researchers in Waziristan reported: ‘The missile fired by the drone hit a hujra, or male guesthouse. Saifullah, the Australian national, happened to be a guest of Zahirullah, who owned a general store in Mir Ali bazaar, and both were killed.’ The house was completely destroyed. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that an internal Pakistani record of CIA drone strikes indicates one woman and two children were killed during the strikes, possibly Saifullah’s family. Our researchers report that there is debate over Zahirullah’s militant links:

There was no doubt about Saifullah’s background. He was a white Australian convert, who had grown a beard and used to rotate between North Waziristan and Khost. Sources said he used to fight against the US-led forces in Khost province in Afghanistan and then return to North Waziristan for rest. Saifullah, in his late 30s, had come to North Waziristan four years ago and had lived in Miramshah and other places. In North Waziristan, he was aligned with the Pakistani Taliban militant group headed by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who signed a peace agreement with the Pakistan government twice in recent years. He had reportedly come from Khost two days before he was killed.

The Australian government continues to deny that one of its citizens was killed.