Pakistan: Reported US strikes 2014
The events detailed here occurred in 2014. These have been reported by US or Pakistani government, military and intelligence officials, and by credible media, academic and other sources, including on occasion Bureau researchers. Below is a summary of CIA drone strikes and casualty estimates for 2014. Please note that our data changes according to our current understanding of particular strikes. Below represents our present best estimate.
You can access a complete spreadsheet of all strike and casualty data for Pakistan here.
CIA strikes – Obama 2014 |
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| Total CIA drone strikes | 25 |
| Total reported killed: | 115-186 |
| Civilians reported killed: | 0-2 |
| Children reported killed: | 0-2 |
| Total reported injured: | 53-76 |
See the databases for previous strikes under President Obama: 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009
See the Pakistan drone strike database for all strikes under President Bush, 2004 to January 2009
More than five months of the year went by without a drone strike. The pause in CIA attacks coincided with ultimately futile efforts by the Pakistan civilian government to negotiate a peace settlement with the Pakistani Taliban (the Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP). Off record comments by US officials made it clear they retained the right to strike targets if they presented themselves. And the drones were reportedly still flying over Waziristan though it was not clear if these reports were mistaking sophisticated, armed US drones with more primitive unmanned aircraft operated by the Pakistani military. The strikes returned in June and ultimately there were only two fewer strikes in the ensuing seven months than in all 2013.
Ob333
June 11 2014
♦ 4-6 reported killed
The first drone strike in almost six months reportedly hit a house and vehicle. Early reports put the death toll at three, rising to ‘at least four‘ and as many as six people had died. ‘According to intercepts of the militants, four were Uzbek militants and two members of the Punjabi Taliban,’ a Pakistani intelligence source said.
An intelligence official said the drone targeted a pick-up truck parked against the outer wall of a housing compound, setting both on fire. But locals told NBC that the vehicle had been driving through the village when it came under attack, and the damage to buildings may have been unintended: ‘Two nearby houses were partially damaged in the missile strikes, but the target was the truck,’ said resident Yar Mohammad.
An unnamed ‘senior intelligence official‘ said intercepted communications revealed: ‘One of the militants was asking others to reach the site and search for any one injured in the strike and also to dig out the dead bodies.’
The attack came days after peace talks between the Pakistani government and the Pakistan Taliban (TTP) conclusively collapsed with a bloody attack on Karachi Airport that reportedly killed at least 39 people, including 10 alleged militants. The TTP and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), a group with a heavy presence in North Waziristan, described the airport attack as a ‘joint operation‘ and said it was in retaliation to the November 2013 drone strike that killed TTP leader Hakimullah Mehsud, as well as to the multiple Pakistani military air strikes that have hit the region since the drone strikes stopped.
The lengthy pause in drone strikes was at the request of the Pakistani government, to allow peace talks with the TTP to take place, sources close to the negotiations told the Bureau. However terrorist attacks and retaliatory military air strikes on targets in the tribal belt continued throughout the hiatus in drone strikes. Following the attack on Karachi airport, the prospect of a full military operation in North Waziristan grew closer as defence minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told TV channel ARY (quoted in the Wall Street Journal): ‘The talks option has been pursued with sincerity by the government, but no result has come.’
Location: Tabi Tolkhel or Darga Mandi, North Waziristan
References: NBC News, AFP, Wall Street Journal, PTI, CNN, Associated Press, New York Times, Dawn, Express Tribune, New York Times, Conflict Monitoring Centre, Reuters
– Defence Minister Asif
Ob334
June 12 2014
♦ 6-14 reported killed
♦ 4 reported wounded
Hours after the five-month hiatus in drone strikes ended, drones reportedly fired multiple missiles at alleged militants, reportedly killing either six or 10 people. But reports disagreed on the target of the strikes, with the Conflict Monitoring Centre (CMC) and AFP reporting that the drones targeted men who were digging out bodies at the site of the previous strike – a tactic previously exposed by the Bureau.
PTI and NBC News also reported that the attack took place in the same village as the previous strike. NBC reported the strike hit a house where explosives were being stored. ‘I never heard such a huge and deafening blast,’ Miranshah resident Javed Khan said. ‘It jolted the entire tribal region, and everybody thought [the] house was targeted.’
But separate reports, also by AFP and by Xinhua, presented a different account, with locals saying missiles hit four separate houses and a pick-up truck in Dande Darpakhel, killing at least 10 and wounding four. Intelligence officials and locals described seeing five to ten drones overhead. And Associated Press said three missiles hit a house and vehicle.
According to Reuters, ‘two top government officials said Islamabad had given the Americans “express approval” for the strikes’. The unnamed officials said this and the previous strike were in retaliation for the attack on Karachi on June 9.
According to Dawn and the CMC Haji Gul, a key Haqqani network commander from Afghanistan, was allegedly killed along with prominent Afghan Taliban commanders Mufti Sofian and Abu Bakar. The attack reportedly destroyed explosive-laden vehicles, reportedly bound for missions across the Pakistani border.
Dawn and the CMC identified five more of the dead: Commander Yasin Gardezi, Abdullah Khan, Commander Jamil, Commander Asadullah and Noor Khan, their driver. The CMC named six further alleged Haqqani Network members killed in the strike: Commanders Saif el Jihad and Commander Roohullah, both Pashtun from Pakistan, Hamza Gul, Hamza, Bilal and Mehmood.
Location: Darga Mandi, Dande Darpakhel or Ghulam Khan, North Waziristan
References: AFP, BBC, PTI, AFP, Associated Press, Xinhua, NBC News, Geo TV Dawn, Dawn, Express Tribune, New York Times, Conflict Monitoring Centre, Reuters
Ob335
June 18 2014
♦ 4-8 reported killed
♦ 2-4 reported injured
The third strike of the month killed at least four alleged militants in the early hours – around 4-4.30am. Most sources reported as many as six missiles hit a house and a vehicle on the outskirts of Miranshah – the capital of North Waziristan. Some sources reported the vehicle was inside the walls of housing compound when the strike hit while others were less specific.
However AFP reported six missiles fired by two drones hit three houses. However the agency also quoted a local security official in Miranshah as saying: ‘US drones fired six missiles which hit three separate compounds in two villages, at least five militants have been killed.’ The attacks reportedly hit minutes apart with two drones firing four missiles in the first strike and a third firing two more missiles in the second. A vehicle parked in one of the housing compounds was hit, a senior security official said.
The Wall Street Journal reported the strike targetted a Haqqani Network compound, adding: ‘A store and at least two vehicles were destroyed.’ However, a security official told Dawn the attack hit near a Haqqani Network-run seminary, killing four people although ‘we don’t know if they were fighters of the Haqqani network.’ The official added: ‘But they do not appear to be militant leaders. There aren’t too many of them left here.’ He continued: ‘What is left of the Haqqani network now is its leader Siraj Haqqani and the son of another leader killed in a drone strike.’
The Pakistan government condemned the strike which came amid Zarb e Azb – a Pakistani military offensive against terrorists in North Waziristan. Soldiers, tanks and airstrikes were reportedly being used against militant positions. Official sources said at least 187 alleged militants had been killed by June 18 as well as a handful of Pakistani soldiers. Aid agencies have estimated as many as 400,000 people may be displaced by the operation, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Location: Darga Mandi, Dande Darpakhel or Miran Shah, North Waziristan
References: Dawn, Associated Press, Voice of America, PTI, Xinhua, Wall Street Journal, The News, Khaama Press, NBC News, AFP, Dawn, PTI, Express Tribune, New York Times
Ob336
July 10 2014
♦ 6-7 reported killed
♦ 2-3 reported injured
At least six people were reportedly killed when CIA drones destroyed a house and vehicle near Datta Khel. Initial reports said the attack killed four foreign fighters and two local men. Nationality, or being defined as “local” or “non-local” is the only identity ascribed to people who die nameless in drone strikes. Subsequent reports conflicted over the nationality of the dead. Some had all the dead as foreigners – three central Asians, reportedly Uzbeks, and three Afghans. However another report said four of the dead were “Arabs” and three were local men.
The Long War Journal later reported that six men killed in the attack were al Qaeda members. Three of them were named by a senior member of the organisation: Fayez Awda al Khalidi, Taj al Makki and Abu Abdurahman al Kuwaiti. Al Makki, a Saudi, and al Kuwaiti, from Kuwait, were described as “mid-level” members of al Qaeda by anonymous US sources.
A local man said the dead were buried in secret and the time and location was not announced over loudspeakers by the Taliban, which they normally when locals are killed The News reported. The local man added:
It was around 5.00am when heavy explosions were heard in the Doga Madakhel village. After the blast, the Taliban militants were seen running towards the village and surrounded the area after reaching there.
The strike came after a concerted offensive by the Pakistan military in North Waziristan. And it came the same day as the Pakistan army declared it had taken cleared militants from 80% of Miranshah – the region’s capital, 35km east of the site of this strike. The military took a group of journalists on a tour of the newly cleared areas.
According to Reuters, North Waziristan has been sealed off to reporters, ‘but the presence of many senior officers during the tour suggested that the army had secured broad control over the area’. AFP reported: ‘The once-bustling town is now virtually deserted, the rubble of countless bombed-out buildings strewn across the dusty streets.’ More than 800,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.
The attack hit in an area said to be controlled by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, ‘a Pakistani militant commander who has played a central role in mobilizing fighters to carry out attacks inside Afghanistan’ according to the New York Times. Bahadur was reportedly aligned with the Pakistan government though not to be spared from the military offensive, according to the Miranshah army commander Major General Zafarullah Khan.
In September 2014, it emerged that a Saudi al Qaeda member died in a drone strike at around this time in North Waziristan. The man was reportedly Umer Talib, also known as Adil Salih Ahmad al Qumayshi, according to the Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE). In 2011 he was included on a list of Saudi Arabia’s ‘47 most wanted terrorists‘. The report from SITE suggests Talib was killed in a drone strike two months ago in North Waziristan. There are therefore three strikes – Ob336, Ob337 and Ob338 – within the time window for his death. It is not yet clear which drone strike he was killed in.
Also in September, it also emerged Sufyan al Maghribi, al Qaeda’s operations commander in Pakistan and Afghanistan was also killed in a drone attack. However it was not clear when he was killed, or if he died in a strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan.
Location: Doga Mada Khel, Datta Khel Tehsil, North Waziristan
References: Dawn, AFP, BBC, Dunya News, IANS, The News, Xinhua, Geo News, Khaama Press, DPA/Reuters, Reuters, Outlook India, The News, Dawn, New York Times, Long War Journal
The Pakistan Army took journalists on tours of Miranshah which they claimed to have almost entirely cleared of militants on July 10 2014 (AFP/YouTube)
Ob337
July 16 2014
♦ 15-24 people killed
♦ Possible civilian casualties reported
♦ 4-7 people reportedly injured
At least 15 people died when CIA drones hit the same area for the second time in six days. An unnamed security official said the attack targeted an important meeting.
Most reports said this attack destroyed a vehicle and a house. Resident Malik Wakil Khan told Reuters 18 bodies had been recovered from the rubble of a destroyed building. However one source, citing unnamed Datta Khel residents, reported two mosques were targeted in the attack. A local said “twelve people were killed at one place and eight others at another mosque”, without specifying they were members of an armed group.
Drones were reportedly still flying over the scene as people continued to search the rubble. The identity of the dead was not immediately clear though one source said 12 people were Uzbeks. An unnamed intelligence official told the Washington Post: “The compound was being used by foreign militants, and some local terrorists were present in the vehicle that got targeted.” Residents said 12 were Central Asians and eight were local men.
The area was reportedly under the control of Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s armed group. The pro-Taliban group had avoided being targeted by the Pakistan government after signing a peace accord in 2006 that reportedly held for eight years. However in June Gul Bahadur declared war on the Pakistan Army after the military incursion into North Waziristan began on June 15.
The strike reportedly hit at around 2am local time. A few hours later a Pakistan Air Force strike killed at least 35 people in the Shawal valley. The remote area is on the border between North and South Waziristan, as well as Afghanistan Paktika province. Pakistani military officials said militants retreating from the Pakistan Army’s month-old offensive in North Waziristan had taken refuge in the Shawal. They said this strike targetted TTP members, including Uzbeks, Chechens and Arab fighters.
The attack came the day after the Pakistan military arrested Adnan Rashid, a senior figure in the TTP. Rashid was picked up in South Waziristan having been reportedly injured fighting the Pakistan military in North Waziristan.
Location: Saidgai, Datta Khel Tehsil, North Waziristan
References: Reuters, Express Tribune, Khaama Press, Pakistan Today, National Turk, Geo, ANI, Xinhua, AFP, Dunya News, AP, ARY News, Dawn, NBC News, Washington Post, AFP, The News, New York Times, Express Tribune
Ob338
July 19 2014
♦ 11-15 people killed
A drone reportedly fired multiple missiles at a building or buildings in a suburb of Datta Khel in the early hours of the morning, reportedly killing at least 11 alleged militants. Initial reports put the death toll at eight however three people recovered from wreckage with “serious burns” subsequently died of their injuries.
The drones reportedly targeted a “sprawling compound“, “two suspected militant hideouts” or a compound and two vehicles filled with explosives. And one official described the target as: “There are tents and there are mud houses, occupied by militants fleeing Miram Shah and Mir Ali.”
This is the third strike this month in the Datta Khel area – all three targeted a building and possibly vehicles. The latest attack came three days after the bloodiest strike in over a year. A tribal elder suggested US drones were attacking the area, rather than Pakistani troops, because it is in the control of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, who had declared a ceasefire with the Pakistani government.
None of the dead were named and it was not clear what armed group they belonged to. The bodies were “mutilated beyond recognition”, an unnamed source said.
Several sources described most of the people killed as members of the Punjabi Taliban – locals told the New York Times 10 of the dead were from Punjab, and five others were affiliated with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Several other sources also reported a majority of Punjabis and minority of alleged IMU fighters among the dead.
However the Wall Street Journal reported some of the dead were fighters loyal to senior local commander Hafiz Gul Bahadur. And two unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials said the dead were TTP members. Two important commanders were killed in the strike, a “senior security official” told AFP. He said: “The drone fired eight missiles on the compound around 2:00am (2100 GMT) on Saturday killing eleven members of the Punjabi faction of the Pakistani Taliban.”
The Pakistani government condemned the strike and sought to downplay suggestions it is complicit in the US drone war.
Location: Doga Mada Khel, Datta Khel Tehsil, North Waziristan
References: Associated Press, AFP, Reuters, New York Times, Dawn, Xinhua, Trans Asia News, ARY News, Guardian, Wall Street Journal, Bureau, Xinhua, IANS, Dawn, The News, Business Recorder, The Times
Ob339
August 6 2014
♦ 5-7 people killed
♦ 2-3 people reportedly injured
At least five people were reported killed and two or three more injured in a drone strike in the Datta Khel region of North Waziristan.
Most reports stated that five were killed when a drone fired two missiles at a house. However one report said six died when four missiles were fired at a house and a vehicle, and other reports counted seven killed.
Intelligence sources reportedly said “most” of the dead were “foreigners”, though the identity of those killed “could not be ascertained”.
Some reports said “suspected foreign militants” were among the dead, though it was not clear what armed group they belonged to. Local intelligence officials told AFP that some Uzbeks and members of the Haqqani network were among the dead. Initial reports said two alleged militants were reportedly injured though later reports counted three.
None of the dead were named in initial reports. This was the fourth drone strike to hit Datta Khel in 2014, with all four reported to have hit houses.
Pakistan military air strikes in the North Waziristan tribal region have reportedly killed 30 militants this week. In a statement the Pakistan army said that six alleged “militant hideouts” have been destroyed in the Datta Khel area, though these claims have not been independently verified.
The Pakistani army has been carrying out an offensive against the Taliban and other militant groups in the area since June. The Pakistan Government’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the strike.
In December 2015 it emerged that senior al Qaeda fighter Abu Dujana al Basha was killed in a strike in either Afghanistan or Pakistan on or around this date.
Location: Datta Khel Tehsil, North Waziristan
References: Pakistan News Today, The Frontier Post, The News, Dawn, Dunya News TV, The Express Tribune, Reuters, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, CNC News, RFE/RL, IANS, The News Tribe, ANI News, Associated Press, Geo TV, CNN, AFP, Long War Journal
Ob340
September 24 2014
♦ 5-11 people killed
♦ 2 reported injured
At least five and as many as 11 people were killed in the first drone strike in 49 days. Various sources said the strike killed at least two “foreigners,” reportedly Uzbeks, as well as “local militants”. However The News said the strike killed 10 Uzbeks.
The death toll varied according to different sources. Various anonymous Pakistani officials told Reuters either five or eight were killed. AFP reported eight were killed and Associated Press said 10 people died. Both agencies reported the figures came from anonymous Pakistani officials.
It was not clear from the initial reports what the CIA drones targeted. It reportedly hit either a moving vehicle, or a vehicle and a building. Officials told AFP the vehicle was near the building when the strike hit, raising the possibility the strike targeted one and the other was hit inadvertently. However an unnamed Pakistani security official said the strike hit the vehicle parked inside the courtyard of the building. This kind of strike has been reported before because residential dwellings in Pakistan’s tribal area are frequently large walled structures and are commonly referred to as “compounds”.
This was the eight strike in 2014 and every one has reportedly targeted a house and vehicle. This was also the fifth consecutive CIA drone strike in the area around Datta Khel.
The last strike was on August 6, two days before the US began striking terrorist targets in Iraq and Syria. The 49-day gap between attacks in Pakistan was the third longest pause in strikes recorded by the Bureau. The drones stopped for 54 days in November and December 2011 when US-Pakistani relations were at a nadir after a year of significant tensions between the allies. The longest pause between attacks ended earlier this year, on June 11 when the first strike in 168 days killed 4-6 people.
The Pakistani government quickly condemned the strike in a foreign ministry release. The statement also said: “The Government of Pakistan also believes that with the decisive action being taken against terrorist elements in North Waziristan, there is no need for such strikes. We, therefore, urge for a cessation of such strikes.”
Location: Alwara/Lawara Mandi, Datta Khel Tehsil, North Waziristan
References: Reuters, ARY News, Dawn, MoFA, The News, Associated Press, CNN, AFP, Khaama Press, Xinhua, The News, The Nation, Express Tribune
Ob341
September 28 2014
♦ 2-4 reported killed
♦ 1-4 reported injured
CIA drones killed at least two in the first drone strike in South Waziristan since September 22 2013. It was not entirely clear what happened, from initial reports. The strike either killed two men and injured as many as four in a vehicle outside a building. Or it hit a building, killing two locals and two “Arabs”.
AFP reported at least two men were killed when they stopped their vehicle outside a house in Karezai Pal village near Wana. An official told the agency: “The militants had just parked their vehicle outside the main gate of a compound and had asked for drinking water from inside. Just when they were drinking water standing on the road, drones fired two missiles.”
The dead were reportedly members of the armed group commanded by Mullah Nazir until his death in a 2013 drone strike. The News reported “Ainullah, a commander of the Maulvi Nazir group,” was the owner of the house damaged in the attack. He was reportedly the target of the strike though his fate was unknown. The injured were reportedly taken to a private clinic where two were said to be in a critical condition.
Pakistani air strikes and a terrorist attack hit on the same day as this strike, killing at least 23 people. The bombing, in a refugee camp, killed three children.
Location: Karezai Pal village, Wana, South Waziristan
References: Associated Press, AFP, Associated Press, Xinhua, PTI, The News, Dawn, Khaama Press, New York Times, The Nation
Ob342
October 5 2014
♦ 4-5 reported killed
♦ 2-3 reported injured
CIA drones killed at least four and as many as five people in the second consecutive drone strike on South Waziristan.
Sources told Reuters all the dead and injured were ethnic Uzbeks. At least one of the dead was reportedly an Uzbek, described as a senior leader. A Pakistani intelligence sources saying the attack targeted “a centre run by Uzbek rebels”. A house was hit in the attack. According to one source, a vehicle was hit too.
The attack hit the Shawal valley. The area straddles the South and North Waziristan border and is an area with reportedly a high concentration of armed groups and fighters.
A strike a week earlier killed at least two near Wana, the capital of South Waziristan – the first strike in the tribal agency for more than a year.
Location: Kundghar, Shawal, South Waziristan
References: Khaama Press, AFP, Xinhua, Frontier Post, Express Tribune, PTI, Dawn, Geo, The News, KUNA, Ary News, Reuters
Ob343
October 6 2014
♦ 4-8 killed
♦ 4-6 reported injured
The second drone strike in 24 hours hit a building and possibly a vehicle, killing at least four people.
Two missiles reportedly hit the house, killing four Uzbeks. The building reportedly belonged to an alleged Taliban commander Habib or Habibullah. Several people were said to have gathered at the site for a meeting. The house was reportedly destroyed but it was not clear if Habib was a casualty, or even present at the time of the trike.
This was the second strike on the Shawal area that straddles the border between North and South Waziristan. It is reputedly a base for fighters launching attacks into Afghanistan.
Location: Mangrotai, Shawal tehsil, South Waziristan
References: Associated Press, AFP, Dawn, Dunya News, Pakistan Tribune, Express Tribune, BBC, The News
Ob344
October 7 2014
♦ 4-7 killed
♦ 5-11 reported injured
Two or three missiles hit a house and possibly a car killing 4-7 people in the third strike in three days. The house, and possibly training area, reportedly belonged to an alleged Taliban commander, Mustaqeem. It was not known if Mustaqeem was the target of the strike and if he died or was even present when the drones attacked.
It was the third to hit the Shawal area. It is a remote, forested valley near the Pakistan Afghanistan border that straddles the boundary between North and South Waziristan. It was reportedly a base for fighters crossing into Afghanistan to attack Nato and Afghan forces.
Location: Kundghar, Shawal, South Waziristan
References: RFE/RL, Gulf News, AFP, Associated Press, Reuters, Dunya News, Geo, Dawn, Al Jazeera English, Voice of America, Daily Times, AFP
Ob345
October 7 2014
♦ 2-4 people killed
♦ 5 people reported injured
Drones returned for the second time in a day to kill at least two people in a strike in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan. The attack hit “a gathering of militants on a mountain” according to Reuters, though another source said the attack “levelled” a house. A security official told AFP: “The drone fired two missiles, killing three people and injuring five. They were Uzbeks.”
The attack was close to the Afghan border, as was the previous attack (Ob344), though this strike hit closer according to two Pakistani officials. It hit hours after the previous attack – at 6.30pm according to Urdu TV. This was the sixth strike in the Datta Khel area this year.
Location: Kundser, Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: News Tribe, Voice of America, Daily Times, Xinhua, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP
Ob346
October 8 2014
♦ 2-4 people killed
♦ 1-3 people reported injured
The fifth drone strike in four days killed at least two people, according to security officials. The strike, which reportedly hit before midnight, targeted a moving vehicle in the Datta Khel area, near the Afghan border. There were foreigners among the dead, according to a senior security official who also told AFP: “A US drone fired two missiles at a vehicle and killed at least four militants and one was wounded.”
Location: Loman, Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: Reuters, Dawn, Associated Press, Voice of America, Daily Times, The Nation, ARY News, AFP, Reuters, IANS
Ob347
October 9 2014
♦ 3-4 people killed
A sixth drone strike in five days killed at least three people, again in the Datta Khel area. Two missiles reportedly “flattened” a house early in the day.
Location: Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: Associated Press, Xinhua
Ob348
October 11 2014
♦ 4-6 people killed
♦ 2 people reported injured
The seventh of the recent spate of US drone strikes in a week reportedly killed at least four including a senior al Qaeda members and alleged Afghan Taliban fighters.
The attack reportedly hit around noon, flattening the targeted house with two missiles. The strike targeted militants fleeing the ongoing Pakistan military offensive, according to the Express Tribune. The area targeted was said to be dominated by tribesmen from Kokikhel, sub-clan of Afridi tribe.
One of the dead was named as Sheikh Imran Ali Siddiqu, (aka Haji Shaikh Waliullah) a senior figure in the newly created al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). A spokesperson for AQIS confirmed Siddiqu was killed in the strike.
The spokesman said Siddiqu had spent eight years in jail for his part in attacks on the US consulate in Karachi. The spokesman added: “[Siddiqu] has been engaged in jihad since 1990. The mujahideen brethren were present atop a mountain when the drones rained missiles, martyring them at the scene.”
There was some dispute over the precise location of the strike. One report, citing “official sources,” said the strike hit a village “right on the [Afghan-Pakistan border] but the area which was targeted falls under the Afghan jurisdiction”.
The distribution of drone strikes demonstrated “the US intelligence agency and Pakistani security forces [were] once again cooperating on defeating the insurgents,” according to McClatchy news agency. The CIA drone strikes were followed by Pakistan Air Force jets reportedly killed 21 people in a series of airstrikes in North Waziristan and Khyber the next day.
Location: Chancharano Kandaw area, Tirah valley, Khyber Agency
References: The Express Tribune, Long War Journal, Agencies/Oman Tribune, New Indian Express, Khaama Press, Dawn, CNN, Newsweek Pakistan, McClatchy
Ob349
October 11 2014
♦ 2-4 people killed
The 400th US drone strike in Pakistan since the first known fatal one just over a decade ago, and the 349th drone strike of Obama’s presidency.
Either two or four people were killed when the strike reportedly hit a vehicle. The dead reportedly included foreigners and locals. One was identified as Mohammad Mustafa. Mustafa was described as “a local leader” from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.
The attack reportedly hit near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. There were conflicting accounts of where the strike hit. Some Pakistani intelligence officials told Reuters it killed two suspected militants near the border with Afghanistan. However Pakistani sources told the Associated Press the attack hit in Margha, Afghanistan, just across the border from North Waziristan.
The Pakistani Finance Minister Ishaq Dar said after meeting with US trade and national security officials: “We have an advance technology which can easily examine that the [recent] strikes were aimed at areas across the western border.”
Location: Marga, Shawal area, North Waziristan
References: Reuters, PTI, Associated Press, The Express Tribune, The News, Dawn, Agencies/Oman Tribune, AFP, Dawn, CNN, Newsweek Pakistan
Ob350
October 30 2014
♦ 4-7 people killed
♦ “Several” reported injured
At least four and as many as seven people died in the ninth drone strike of the month and the fourth in South Waziristan. Four missiles from CIA drones reportedly hit a building around 15 miles (24km) from Wana, the area’s capital.
Abdullah Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani Network, was reportedly killed. He “was responsible for sending suicide bombers to Afghanistan,” according to an official.
Four more of the dead were named though their affiliation was not clear. The Pakistan Tribune identified four as: Adil, a Yemeni; Abu Dawooduddin, from Sudan; and Umar and Amadi, from Saudi Arabia. However the paper said the four were senior commanders in the Haqqani Network which seems unusual as the Haqqani Network is built around a core of ethnic Pashtuns from the Zadran tribe. It is conceivable that the Haqqani Network was hosting the dead Arabs.
The Haqqani Network is a notoriously effective fighting force in the Afghan insurgency and it is alleged the Pakistani state supports the network to further Pakistan’s strategic ambitions. The US appears to have targeted the group in an area of Pakistan’s tribal area that has largely been spared attack from the Pakistan military. The army is continuing its advance into North Waziristan however most of South Waziristan has been spared from the fighting.
The targeted house reportedly belonged to a local tribesman, Ashraf Mehsud, and was occupied by Arab militants affiliated with al Qaeda. Mehsud was not in the house at the time of the strike. A militant source said the strike also hit a vehicle loaded with arms and ammunition.
Location: Nargas village, Birmal/Azam Warsak, South Waziristan
References: Associated Press, Reuters, Reuters, Dawn, AFP, Pakistan Tribune, Express Tribune, AFP, GeoTV, PTI
November 2014
Ob351
November 11 2014
♦ 4-7 reported killed
♦ 0-2 children reported killed
♦ 2-3 reported injured
Between four and seven people were killed in a CIA drones strike in the Datta Khel area.
Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) said two of their fighters were killed in this strike. Pakistan Army Major Adil Abdul Quddus and Dr Sarbuland (aka Abu Khalid). They were both members of AQIS according to Osama Mahmood, a spokesman for the group.
Mahmood also said Sarbuland’s two sons were killed in the strike. They were identified as Uzair, 13, and Suleman, 15. Three unnamed Taliban fighters also told Reuters Sarbaland’s sons were killed in the strike. They told the agency a missile hit Sarubuland’s house. The people inside, including Sarbaland’s sons, tried to escape in a pick-up truck but it was destroyed by a second missile, the Taliban fighters said. According to initial reports the attack either hit a building and a vehicle, or a moving vehicle.
Geo TV reported Quddus was Sarbuland’s brother-in-law. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, the mastermind of the September 11 2001 attacks on the US, was arrested in the house of Ahmed Abdul Quddus – Adil Abdul’s brother – in Rawalpindi in March 2003. Adil Quddus was arrested shortly after his brother and Mohammed were taken into custody. He was court martialled, sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2008.
Sarbuland reportedly used to run a hospital for Taliban fighters in North Waziristan. He was “a competent surgeon, as well as the finest instructor of battlefield. He fought both against the Russians and the US” according to the AQIS spokesman.
The attack hit the Dawa Toi valley – a thickly forested area near the Afghan border, according to Dawn. An intelligence official told the paper “the valley is infested with local and foreign militants”. It was the first strike in the Datta Khel area in over a month – it is the ninth strike to hit in and around Datta Khel this year. It has historically been home to members of the various armed groups operating in North Waziristan and has been a particular focus of Pakistan military offensive in North Waziristan.
The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again condemned the strike – a common response to the CIA attacks. In a statement, it said the strikes are a “violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, especially at a time when our authorities are engaged in taking decisive action against terrorist elements in North Waziristan.”
A drone strike killed six people on the Afghan side of the border later the same day. The attack hit near the border with Pakistan’s tribal areas, but to the north of where the CIA drones hit in Pakistan. The Afghan attack reportedly killed alleged members of the Taliban, including a Pakistani national.
Location: Dawa Toi, Datta Khel, North Waziristan
References: Saach TV, Geo TV, Dawn, Pakistan government, Associated Press, Express Tribune, The News, Reuters, Dawn, New York Times, Xinhua/ARY News, The News, AFP, Express Tribune, GeoTV, The News, Dawn, Long War Journal
Ob352
November 20 2014
♦ 5-8 reported killed
♦ 2-3 reportedly injured
CIA drones killed at least five people in the latest strike on Datta Khel, according to initial strike reports. The attack reportedly hit a house and vehicle.
A security official told Reuters six local and foreign fighters were killed, citing intercepted Taliban communications. The targeted house was reportedly occupied by fighters from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan.
This is the tenth strike in and around Datta Khel this year. The Pakistan military has been steadily pushing through North Waziristan in its ongoing military offensive against armed groups in the tribal agency. It has met with resistance in Datta Khel which was the scene of several air strikes and clashes between armed groups and the Pakistan Army.
Location: Madakhel, Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: Dawn, Samaa.TV/AFP, PTI, Reuters, Xinhua, DPA
Ob352C
November 21 2014
♦ 4 reported killed
German agency DPA was initially the only source reporting a strike hitting hours after Ob352. An intelligence officer told the agency four died, “including Arab fighters from al Qaeda”.
Location: South Waziristan
References: DPA
Ob353
November 26 2014
♦ 4-9 reported killed
♦ 2-3 reported injured
A CIA drone strike killed between four and nine people in a strike on a house and possibly a vehicle in the Shawal area of North Waziristan.
Two “foreigners” were thought to be among the dead, according to a local government official. They were described as “with al Qaeda” by an unnamed intelligence official. However a “militant in the area” of the strike told Reuters the strike killed Pakistani fighters.
“The drone fired two missiles, killing at least eight people and injuring two others,” a security official told AFP. “There may be more dead bodies under the rubble.”
The Express Tribune subsequently reported nine were killed in the strike. The death toll rose because more bodies were found among the wreckage, according to an anonymous security official. The dead reportedly included “two associates of the Haqqani group,” as well as four members of Hafiz Gul Bahadur’s armed group and three Uzbeks.
The Pakistani government protested the attack, saying in a statement that as it was “taking decisive action against terrorist elements in North Waziristan Agency” the drone strikes have been rendered “completely unnecessary“.
Location: Garga, Shawal, North Waziristan
References: AFP, New York Times, The Nation, IANS, Deutsche Presse Agentur, Associated Press, Outlook India, Anadolu Agency, Dawn, Reuters, NBC News, Pakistan MoFA, PTI, Express Tribune, Dawn, The News
Ob353C
December 3 2014
♦ Unknown casualties
The Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned a drone strike in Mada Khel, near Miranshah, that appeared to have gone unreported in the local and international media. There was no reported casualties however Pakistan Air force jets reportedly killed 18 alleged militants in the same area the following day.
Location: Mada Khel, Miranshah, North Waziristan
References: Pakistan Government, Dawn
Ob354
December 7 2014
♦ 4-6 reported killed
♦ 2 reported injured
CIA drones reportedly killed at least four people possibly including a named, alleged senior al Qaeda fighter. However this has been rejected by the Pakistan military which denies a strike even took place.
The attack reportedly came at 6am local time and destroyed a house and vehicle. Up to six were reported killed, four were described as foreigners and two as locals. The occupants were said to be fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a commander who previously had been an ally of Pakistan but ended whatever accord existed with Islamabad when the Pakistan Army moved into North Waziristan in June 2014. The dead were reportedly buried in local graveyards and the injured taken to local clinics.
Umar Farooq, an alleged senior al Qaeda figure, was named among the dead by unnamed Pakistani officials and a Taliban commander who told the New York Times: “We have lost another precious brother in the attack.” However other Pakistani officials said Farooq had not been killed in the strike. The military officials denied there had been a drone strike at all.
Farooq (aka Usted Ahmed Farooq) was reportedly from Karachi and had joined al Qaeda after the September 11 2001 attacks on the US. Farooq, 38, reportedly became a spokesman for the group and had operated with al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and knew Ayman al Zawahiri and Osama Bin Laden.
“He is the first Pakistani to be appointed to a senior-level position in al Qaeda,” a military official told Reuters. “He has been key in pushing al Qaeda to focus on South Asia and helped evolve al Qaeda’s South Asia policy and specifically its anti-India activities. It was on his advice that al Qaeda officially declared the Pakistan army an apostate army.”
The strike hit the day after as many as 10 people were killed in a drone strike in eastern Afghanistan. The dead were reportedly Pakistan Taliban fighters however they were unidentified in media reports. The US and Pakistan had reportedly come to an accord regarding targeting the various armed groups that operated on either side of the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Farooq was the second alleged al Qaeda member to be reportedly killed in two days. The Pakistan military said it had killed Adnan el Shukrijumah, 39, in a mass assault on a house on on December 6. Shukrijumah was reportedly al Qaeda’s chief of external operations. He was wanted by US authorities for a planned 2009 attack on the New York subway – the FBI had put out a reward of $5m (£3.2m) for his capture. The assault hit a house in South Waziristan, an area Pakistan has claimed was cleared of armed groups after a 2009 offensive. The military said Shukrijumah had been forced into South Waziristan by the ongoing army operation in North Waziristan.
Location: Khar Tangi village, Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: Associated Press, Reuters, PTI, AFP, Dawn, The News, CNN, The Nation, Express Tribune, New York Times
Ob355
December 20 2014
♦ 4-6 reported killed
♦ 4 people injured
A US drone strike killed at least four militants, according to security officials. The strike reportedly killed militants who fought under local Pakistani taliban leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur.
According to several sources two missiles were fired at a compound. None of the dead have been identified, but there are reports that a high value target was killed in the strike. The Express Tribune, citing tribal sources, reported the dead “included one Arab and three Uzbek fighters – two of them members of the banned Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).” A senior security official told AFP: “A US drone fired two missiles at a compound in Mada Khail neighbourhood of Datta Khail area in North Waziristan killing six persons. The death toll is expected to rise.”
This strike came amidst a considerable step-up in Pakistan military operations in the tribal regions. Scores of alleged militants were killed in a series of attacks in the tribal areas and raids in the coastal city of Karachi.
Location: Datta Khel area, North Waziristan
References: Associated Press, The News, Dawn, The Independent, Express Tribune, Pakistan Today, AFP
Ob356
December 26 2014
♦ 4-5 reported killed
♦ 3 injured
CIA drones reportedly killed four or five people in a strike that hit a building in the Shawal valley. The strike reportedly killed members of the Punjabi Taliban.
This was the first of two strikes that hit in quick succession. This was the first of the two according to most reports though the New York Times report reversed the order. The Times said the strike targeted the house of Asmatullah Muaqiyah, leader of the Punjabi Taliban. It was not clear if he was present at the time of the strike. The Associated Press reported the building belonged to a Qari Imran. It is not clear if this is a different person or another name used by Muaqiyah.
Most sources reported the dead were all members of the Punjabi Taliban, implying they were Pakistanis. However the Express Tribune reported: “Four suspected militants were killed in the drone strike at the compound in Kund Sar, according to them. Two of them were Turkish nationals and two were Uzbeks.”
This and the subsequent strike came on the same day the Pakistan military killed at least 39 people in a series of air strikes in the area around Datta Khel.
Location: Kund/Kundghar village, Shawal, North Waziristan
References: New York Times, Reuters, Washington Post, Associated Press, Dawn/IANS, Xinhua, The News, Dawn, AFP, Express Tribune
Ob357
December 26 2014
♦ 3-4 reported killed
♦ 2 injured
This second strike of the day hit either a vehicle or a house “minutes” after the first. Every source for this strike said the dead were Uzbeks, though it is not clear if this refers to their ethnicity or their nationality.
Location: Kund/Kundghar village, Shawal, North Waziristan
References: New York Times, Washington Post, Reuters, CNN, Associated Press, Dawn/IANS, Xinhua, The News, Express Tribune
