In one of the deadliest air strikes carried out by the CIA-operated drones so far in Pakistan, as many as 22 people — most of them women and children and suspected militants — were killed and 25 others sustained serious injuries. A US spy plane fired six hellfire missiles on a house inhabited by the family of Afghan Taliban commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, in Danday Darpakhel village near Miramshah on Monday.
The family sources of veteran Afghan Jihadi commander, Jalaluddin Haqqani, told The News that four of their female family members, including the elder sister of Haqqani, were killed and 15 others were seriously injured.
They said mostly women and children were injured in the attack about four kilometres west of Miramshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan Agency (NWA). According to the villagers, a majority of the victims were small girls of the village, who visited the house for learning the holy Qura’an.
Residents of Danday Darpakhel village told The News that a US spy plane was still flying over the town after the attack on the house. They said a spy plane, which had been hovering over NWA for the past several months round the clock, fired six hellfire missiles on one of the houses inhabited by the family members of Haqqani.
Other sources close to the Haqqani family said a portion of the cemented house reserved for entertaining male guests, also known as Hujra or male guesthouse, was targeted by the spy plane where some guests from Afghanistan were staying. According to the sources, the attack was so severe that it levelled the male guesthouse to the ground, killing 20 people and causing serious injuries to 25 others.
They said it was possible that the plane was targeting the Hujra as a majority of those killed were staying in the male guesthouse. “We recovered 20 bodies from rubble of the collapsed Hujra and adjoining house that included women and children,” said a resident of Danday village on main Miramshah-Ghulam Khan Road.
He said most of the bodies were mutilated and beyond recognition, adding that dozens of militants reached there and besieged the damaged house soon after the missile attack. The militants and villagers faced difficulties in retrieving the injured from the rubble and called for a crane. With the help of crane, the residents said, they recovered the injured people.
Sources said that none of the male members of the Haqqani family were killed or injured as they had been staying in Afghanistan’s Khost province. The sources said the targeted house was inhabited by one of Haqqani’s younger sons, Yahya Haqqani. They said it was known to everybody that like thousands of other Afghan refugees, the Haqqani family is also living in Pakistan.
The injured were later taken to various hospitals in Miramshah where two of them succumbed to their injuries, raising the death toll to 22. Despite several attempts by this scribe, military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas could not be contacted for comment.
However, when reached by telephone, Major Murad of ISPR said they heard about an explosion in Miramshah but did not know about any casualty. “Yes we can confirm an explosion but have no information about any casualty,” said Maj Murad. Interestingly, Danday Darpakhel village is situated in front of the Pakistan Army camp in Miramshah.