(Previous Incident Code: Ob298 )

In one of the deadliest CIA strikes of 2012, four missiles were reportedly fired at a madrassa belonging to Maulvi Shakirullah, killing at least 16 and wounding many more.

Shakirullah is connected to the Haqqani network, Geo TV reported, while the dead included fighters for militant commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur, Associated Press said, “US drones fired four missiles on a militant compound, and initial reports say 11 militants have died.”

Local official Khushal Khan told AFP, that several Afghans were among the dead. Khan’s deputy later raised the number of those killed to 18, with SANA noting that three other buildings were also damaged in the attack.

The News named five of the injured and two of those killed, “Some of the injured militants included Mehmood, Khitab, Hafiz Saadi, Khalil Khan, Siddique and Muhammad Irfan while two of the dead were identified as Muhammad Zahirand Younas. The injured were taken to the Civil Hospital in Thall tehsil in Hangu district.”

Eight of the wounded later died of their injuries, the News reported a couple of days after the strike, adding that 16 of the dead were buried in Bulandkhel, four in Miranshah and four elsewhere in the region. Abdullah Khurasani, Tehreek-i-Taliban spokesman, told the paper the strike had killed ‘innocent seminary students’ and refuted reports that Maulvi Shakirullah and alleged bombmaker Umar Haqqani had died.

Most media reported the attack took place in Orakzai province, which would make this only the second drone strike recorded by the Bureau in the province, with the previous being an attack targeting Hakimullah Mehsud in April 2009 (Ob10).

Dawn reported the building was exactly on the border with North Waziristan, while some local officials insisted it had taken place in North Waziristan itself.

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry once again protested the strike and that of October 10, with an official government note stating, “a protest has been lodged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the US Embassy Islamabad on drone strikes inside Pakistani territory on 10 and 11 October 2012. The Embassy was informed that drone strikes on Pakistani territory were a clear violation of International Law and Pakistan’s sovereignty. These attacks were unacceptable to Pakistan.”