Gender |
Male |
|---|---|
Tribe |
Unknown |
Age |
Unknown |
Reported status |
Unknown |
When a night-time attack hit a house in Mir Ali, at least four people were killed. These included the house’s owner, Zahirullah. Although he was described in initial reports as a ‘militant’, later investigations reveal a more complex picture.
Sources told the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based research organisation, that he owned a motorcycle and car business, and ran a store in Mir Ali bazaar. Locals also confirmed to a Bureau researcher that Zahirullah ran a general store in Mir Ali bazaar. ‘[M]any people who knew Zahirullah and his family claimed he wasn’t involved in militancy and had no links with al-Qaeda or Taliban,’ the researcher said. However, a few ‘insisted that Zahirullah had in the past fought in Afghanistan alongside the Taliban.’
On the evening of the attack, Zahirullah was hosting several men including a man described by media reports and Bureau researchers as an Australian convert named Saifullah, who had reportedly fought against US forces in Afghanistan.
Locals told Bureau researchers that Saifullah’s presence in the house did not necessarily mean Zahirullah was also a militant: ‘They said he couldn’t have refused to host a guest for a night or two in keeping with local traditions of hospitality.
But other local sources disagreed with this, saying the fact that he was hosting a militant would make him ‘a suspect’.
CRSS researchers reported that Zahirullah’s companions that evening were ‘local inhabitants and they had come to discuss some business matters’.
After having dinner, Zahirullah and his companions were offering Isha prayers at around 11pm when the hujra (male guest quarters) they were in was hit by a drone strike. At least four were killed, including Zahirullah.
Bureau researcher