After Canadian family’s recovery: US drone attack kills five, including Taliban commander

PESHAWAR: At least five members of the Afghan Taliban, including one commander, were killed and eight others sustained injuries in multiple missile strikes by the CIA-operated unmanned aircraft on militants’ positions in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan on Monday.

There were conflicting reports about the exact location of the area called Ghoz Garhi where the drones targetted the militants days after the recovery of a Canadian family from captivity of the Taliban in Kurram Agency.

Residents in Pakistan’s Kurram Agency said the area was close to the Afghan border but located inside Pakistan. However, the local political administration claimed that the area was located on the Afghan side of the porous border where the Afghan Taliban had established their bases.

According to tribal sources and Pakistan government officials, four drones were seen hovering over the border villages between the two countries since Monday morning. "Drones always fly over this border area but it was the first time four drones were seen hovering at the same time there. There were rumours among the villagers that there might be an important figure in the area and that was the reason the drones were constantly flying over the border," said a local tribesman, Gulab Sher, who is a resident of Lower Kurram close to the Afghan border.

He said some of the injured were brought to hospital in cars and pick-up trucks for treatment. A government official in Parachinar, the administrative town of Kurram tribal region, confirmed the drone strike but said they were not sure if it took place inside the Pakistani territory. "We have received similar reports and are working on ascertaining whether it took place on our side of the border or across the border in Afghanistan," said the Pakistani official on condition of anonymity.

He said they received reports that some houses being used by the Afghan Taliban were targetted by drones. "We are not sure about losses but we came to know from different sources that five to seven people were killed in the missile strikes," said the official. Some TV channels also aired unconfirmed reports about killing of as many as 20 people.

Meanwhile, members of the Afghan Taliban said the drones targeted their men in the border area inside Afghanistan. "There were some mud-houses used by the mujahideen (Afghan Taliban fighters) located between Afghanistan’s Khost and Paktia provinces. The drones fired six missiles and targeted two to three different compounds," said a member of the Afghan Taliban.

Pleading anonymity, he said that four of their fighters were initially killed and some others were injured in the drone attack, but later one of the injured succumbed to his injuries due to lack of medical care.

The Taliban member denied presence of any prominent militant commander in the area. He said the fighter jets of Afghanistan air force also came after the drone strikes and pounded the remaining houses. "There were not many mujahideen present in the area during the missile strikes," he claimed.

According to Taliban sources, it was the second time in recent past that the US drones targeted this area. Earlier on Sunday, four Pakistani soldiers were martyred and three others injured in an IED attack on their vehicle in Kurram Agency where the Pakistan's security forces had rescued a Canadian-American family and their three children from the custody of the Haqqani network on Thursday.

AFP adds: The US drone attacked a compound on Pakistani side of the border. At least four missiles were fired during the strike in the Kurram tribal district close to the Afghan border, according to officials.

One said the target was suspected militant Abu Bakar, commander of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network. It is the second such strike since US President Donald Trump in August accused Pakistan of offering "safe havens" to extremists. An attack in the same region in September left three people dead and two wounded. "Five people have been killed in a drone strike on a suspected militant’s house," an intelligence source told AFP. A local administration official also confirmed the toll.