The drone fired four missiles and struck two different
militant compounds located close to each other in the Lowara Mandi area of
Dattakhel Tehsil.According to sources, 10 militants were killed and five others
injured in both the missile strikes.
Those killed and injured were said to be members of the
local Taliban. There was no way to collect information about the identity of
the victims due to a lack of communication in the tribal region. There were
also rumours that the leader of the North Waziristan Taliban, Hafiz Gul
Bahadur, was killed in the drone strike, but it couldn’t be confirmed through
independent sources.
Government and security officials neither denied nor
confirmed the reports of his killing.He was also reported to have been killed a
few weeks ago when the Pakistan Air Force fighter jets pounded his hideouts in
Dattakhel, but the reports later proved untrue.The unmanned aircraft continued
to hover over the area for a long time after the attack which hampered the
rescue activities.
