A heavy blast was heard at Shewakai Naray village near Wana in South Waziristan Agency (SWA) soon after two US drones were seen hovering over the tribal region on Tuesday night.
Tribal sources told The News from Wana, the SWA’s regional headquarters, that a heavy explosion was heard at Shewakai Naray village, 15 kilometres east of Wana. However, they did not know the cause of the explosion.
The sources said two US drones were seen flying over the village when the explosions occurred.
"Yes, an explosion has been heard in Shewakai Naray village but we don’t know whether it was caused by missiles fired by the US drone or something else," said an official of the political administration based in Wana.
He said the village was at some distance from Wana with no telecommunication facility and, therefore, it would take some time in getting exact details about the incident.
The tribal people, who heard the blast, said the explosion did not seem to be a missile attack. They said militants had fired heavy weapons at the US drones flying over the village.
"I don’t think it could be a missile attack. The explosions which I heard in the past caused by the US drones were very heavy," said Sharifullah Wazir, a resident of Dabkot village in Wana.
He said despite repeated protests by the Ahmadzai Wazir tribesmen over violation of the Pakistan airspace by the US drones and firing of Hellfire missiles on civilian population, two US spy planes were continuously flying over tribal villages of South Waziristan, including Wana, Wacha Khwara, Ziary Noor, Azam Warsak, Dabkot, Karikot, Shewakai Naray, Ghalja and border villages Angoor Adda, Baghar, Sholam and Manja.
The residents said the flight of the two US drones at the same time over the sensitive region had terrified the tribesmen.
"Whenever two US drones came here in the past, they fired Hellfire missiles on tribal villages, killing innocent tribesmen," said Sharifullah.
Meanwhile, the Ahmadzai Wazirs will meet today (Wednesday) in Wana to discuss the flight of the US spy planes and frequent air strikes on their areas.
A grand Jirga of Ahmadzai Wazirs has threatened to scrap the peace agreement with the government if it did not stop the US forces from carrying out operations in the SWA.