(Previous Incident Code: T005 )

A US drone strike hit Pakistan’s Kurram Agency killing at least three alleged fighters and wounding several more, according to government and security officials as well as tribal sources. There are currently no know reports of civilian harm.

Baseer Khan Wazir, the most senior administrator in Kurram Agency, told Reuters the strike hit close to the border with Afghanistan. Pakistani officials told AFP it was carried out in Ghuz Ghari village, which they also placed close to the border. Kurram Agency is in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan.

Wazir said two missiles were dropped on the home of Maulvi Mohib, killing three people. Tribal sources described Mohib as a local religious cleric who was a Haqqani Network “loyalist”. Two Afghan Taliban sources told Reuters he was affiliated with the group, although one senior member said he was not a prominent figure in it. Dunya News identifies those slain as Afghan Taliban commander Maulana Asmatullah Zaeef and his associates as his son-in-law and his nephew.

The strike was aimed at a compound where five Afghan Taliban fighters had gathered, according to the officials speaking to AFP. Three of those were killed, while two others were wounded, one of the more senior of the officials said. This was confirmed by two other mid-level government officials, it said. Unnamed security officials told Dawn that while three people had been killed, only one was injured.