(Previous Incident Code: T005civ )

A US drone strike along the Pakistan-Afghan border killed a commander of the Haqqani Network and up to two other militants, according to different reports. No civilian harm was claimed. The commander was identified by the sources as Jamiuddin or Jamil ud Din and his partner as Juma Khan.

An eyewitness and members of the group placed the attack in Pakistan. The eyewitness, identified as Rehmanullah, said he saw the strike hit near the Mata Sanghar area of Kurram agency. “I saw two missiles hit the vehicle and the people inside were killed,” he told Reuters by telephone. Dawn reported that a missile had hit a compound in  the same area on December 18,  but said no casualties were reported.

The senior member of Haqqani Network said Jamiuddin had been traveling in his car in Pakistan’s Kurram region, but said only he had been killed. “Jamiuddin stopped the car … for conversation on his cellular phone when the drone fired two missiles and killed him on the spot,” another Haqqani member told Reuters.

However officials of the Kurram political administration told MENAFN the strike was carried out inside Afghanistan. The news site reported their sources saying three people had been killed in the strike, which they located somewhere between Pakistan’s Mata Sangar territory and Afghanistan’s Maqbal area. This contradicts Kurram officials reported in RFE, who said the strike hit also in Mata Sanghar. A Pakistani official who spoke to Reuters also said he was unclear on what side of the border the strike took place.