(Previous Incident Code: Ob72 )

An alleged US drone killed up to five militants and wounded another five as the town of Danda Darpakhel in north Waziristan was struck, local and international media reported.

An alleged US drone fired two missiles, one hitting a compound and another a vehicle, as reported by Dawn and many more. The South Asia Terrorism Portal reported that the two missiles struck Jalaluddin Haqqani’s madrassa (seminary), four kilometres north of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan in FATA.

While all sources reported that only militants were killed and wounded, the exact figures varied, spanning from between three to five killed and four to five wounded.

Most notably, Mohammed Haqqani (aka Mohammed Hashim), a brother of the leader of the Haqqani Network, was killed with two to four others, reportedly as he traveled to offer prayers for Shaikh Mansoor, killed the previous day (Ob71). Also reported killed by one source were “head of a little-known militant outfit” Nisar Wazir; Muhajireen Wal Ansar; and two “Arabs.”

It subsequently emerged that Mohammed Haqqani was not the intended target of the strike. The US was trying to kill one of his older brothers – a US intelligence official later boasted:

“We were gunning for Siraj but got his little brother instead.”

A US intelligence report leaked to McClatchy three years after the strike revealed that Siraj’s brother and the Network’s second-in-command Baddrudin was the actual target:

“Watching the video feed from a drone high above the mourners, CIA operators in the United States identified a man they believed could be Badruddin Haqqani from the deference and numerous greetings he received. The man also supervised a private family viewing of the body.”

Baddrudin was killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan in August 2012 (Ob287).