(Previous Incident Code: Ob330 )

Between three and six alleged civilians, including up to four children, were killed in drone strikes against the Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Conflicting reports were given as to whether those killed were students and clerics from the seminary or were visiting members of the Haqqani Network. Pakistani politician Imran Khan was the only source to claim that four children were killed and two teachers were killed. Between one and eight others were injured and it was unclear whether those that were injured were militants of civilians. Up to nine alleged militants were also killed in the strikes.

This was one of the first strikes outside Pakistan’s tribal agencies and was the first strike in the “settled area” of Hangu. CIA drones reportedly hit a madrassa at 5am, killing a number of named alleged militants including a senior Haqqani Network commander. Maulvi Ahmad Jan (aka Ahmed Jan) was confirmed to be among the dead. He was in his 50s or 60s and a member of the Haqqani Network’s ruling council. A senior Haqqani source told Reuters: ‘Yes it’s true, we lost another valuable figure this morning.’

The Guardian named four others killed in the strike: Maulvi Hamidullah (aka Hameedullah), an Afghan ‘special adviser’ to the Haqqani group; Maulvi Abdullah, an Afghan; Maulvi Abdur Rehman Mengal (aka Abdul Rehman), an Afghan; and Karim Khan. NBC News also identified five alleged Taliban commanders, with one difference to the Bureau source. NBC News said Maulvi Ghazi Marjan (aka Gul Marjan) was killed but did not name a Karim Khan among the dead. And Dawn named Kaleemullah among the dead, as well as Ahmed Jan, Hamidullah, Abdullah, Abdur Rehman, and Gul Marjan.

Qari Noor Wali was possibly killed. He was an Afghan and died in the attack according to Maulvi Naimatullah, the man running the seminary. But a named local resident said the madrassa was run by Qari Noorullah, who was reportedly injured in the strike. And an anonymous official said the madrassa was run by Qari Noor Mohammed, adding: ‘It was not clear if he was present in the seminary at the time of attack.’

Several unnamed pupils were reportedly killed in the strike – all adults, according to the Washington Post. NBC News reported four foreign casualties. Politician Imran Khan told reporters four children had been killed or injured in the attack. He said his political party would release their names and pictures although had yet to do so.

A security official told NBC: ‘Initially we thought that a suicide bomber had hit the madrassa but later we confirmed it was a drone attack.’ The mud building was reportedly made up of 12 or 15 rooms. The drone ‘flattened‘ one or two of them. According to Dawn missiles hit a room ‘near the main gate of the seminary’ three times in 15 minutes. As many as 200 students attended the madrassa and around 80 sleep there overnight. Eighty students reportedly escaped unharmed. The madrassa was said to have been used by refugees as well as militants affiliated to the Haqqani Network. A Haqqani source said the madrassa was also ‘a base for the network where militants fighting across the border came to stay and rest, as the Haqqani seminaries in the tribal areas were targeted by drones.’

Following the strike, local residents told The News that Taliban militants “blocked nearby streets leading to the madrassa” until the bodies were retrieved and placed in coffins. Local journalists were also banned from the site of the strikes initially but were later given access after promising not to take pictures.

An unnamed official told the Washington Post the strike did not target a madrassa but hit a ‘compound associated with the Haqqani Network’. The official said a madrassa was nearby but was not damaged in the attack. The US had seen no sign of civilian casualties, the official added.

The strike came the day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s special adviser on foreign affairs declared the US would not launch drone strikes while Islamabad negotiated with the Taliban. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemned the drone strike. However the opposition blamed Sharif for the strike.