(Previous Incident Code: Ob317 )

At least four people died when at least two and up to twelve missiles destroyed a house or Taliban training camp in a pre-dawn strike on either Babar Ghar or Sararogha village, near Wana.

There were fears the death toll could rise as people reportedly remained trapped in the rubble. Locals dug dead and injured out of the wreckage but the rescue work was reportedly delayed by fear the drones would strike again. All those killed were alleged militants, but reports differed as to which militant group occupied the house. Some said members of the Pakistani Taliban or TTP were killed. One report said Madni, a local TTP commander, was killed along with five unnamed militants. But a local security official said the dead were al Qaeda fighters.

The strike came the morning after Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, criticised the use of drones outside conflict zones. Using drones themselves is not a problem, he told reporters in Geneva. ‘But if a drone is used in a country where there is no armed conflict… there is a problem.’ He was speaking with journalists after returning from meeting President Obama in Washington.