Two missiles were fired on a house in Miranshah. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
The strike on Friday evening targeted a house in Dandey Darpakhel, five kilometres (three miles) north of Miranshah, a town that US considers to be a stronghold of Taliban and al Qaeda militants.
The identities of those killed in the strike are not yet known, but sources say a senior militant commander may be among the dead.
This is the second drone attack in two days, after Thursday's strike killed three people in Miranshah bazaar.
Hakeemullah's status unclear
There was speculation that TTP chief Hakeemullah Mehsud, who has a $5 million bounty on his head, with a Reuters report claiming that was among those killed in the drone strike.
The Reuters report citing unnamed security sources said that the TTP chief had been successfully targeted.
"We can confirm Hakeemullah Mehsud was killed in the drone strike," said one unnamed senior security official told Retuers.
An intelligence source said that "Hakeemullah Mehsud's funeral is scheduled for 3 pm (Saturday) in Miranshah."
However, TTP spokesperson Shahidullah Shahid denied the militant commander had been killed in the attack, Express News reported.
A strike in the midst of 'dialogue process'
On Wednesday, a week after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had urged his US counterpart to halt drone strikes, US Congressman Alan Grayson had said that if Pakistan wanted, drone strikes "could end tomorrow" and that “these strikes would not be possible if Pakistan did not facilitate them.”
Then hours after Thursday's drone attack, an agitated Imran Khan had stated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) would put a stop to NATO supplies if a drone attack is conducted during the Taliban peace talks.
Also on Thursday, the Pakistani government announced that the dialogue process with the Taliban had begun, although no formal talks had occurred as yet.
“We expect that the formal dialogue with Taliban will also take place very soon,” Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar told opposition parties.
The Pakistani defence ministry recently said that 317 US drone strikes in the country's tribal areas had killed 67 civilians and 2,160 militants in Pakistan since 2008, figures that opposition parties in the parliament are highly skeptical of.
COMMENTS (137)
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@hamza khan
Can you paint a picture of minorities in your country for my sake? At least in my country everyone has equal rights whereas in your country a minority cannot even dream to hold top positions cos the constitution does not allow them, let allow practice their religion without fear.
Whats the saying, people living in glass houses.....??
@numbersnumbers: Dear numbers, After all the missives I have sent, in reply to you and csmann etc, which were not printed by ET it does not give me any satisfaction to see an unimportant message printed. It does appear that anybody such as you can send in fictitious articles about the Taliban without providing believable backup. In contrast, when I give detailed accounts of US/NATO killings they are persona non grata as far as ET is concerned. Regretfully, ET understands that there are basically three types of people. The very intelligent, the reasonably intelligent and the lesser intelligent who lack the capacity for thinking and basic analysis. Unfortunately, you, unbelievable, csmann, GP65 etc belong to the latter category., Although I regret that TTP chief Hakeemullah has been murdered one gets used to it after millions have suffered a similar fate from the US/NATO. killing machine. The latter sentence will probably prevent this missive from being printed, but we will see.
@Sexton Blake: Since you never provide sources for your fantasy world comments that are posted, ALL the readers can only conclude that all your so-called "detailed missives to counter inaccuracies" never existed to be moderated in the first place! Saying that the ET Moderators "dissed my response" is a convenient way of hiding when your "so-called" facts are called into question!
@csmann: Dear csmann, Along with your other meagre attempts to put forth pro-American propaganda your latest move into the world of droll satire is a complete failure. However, at least one moderator in ET, in conjunction with many of the lower functioning ET readers, appears to approve of your missives, so I suppose along with the low grade comments of unbelievable and GP65 the world will just have to keep on suffering. I write many detailed missives to counter the inaccuracies written by the three of you, but ET does not print them. This one is not particularly important so it stands a good chance of being printed.
Why are indians so much interested in commenting on this report? jidhar daikho raj, vikram, indianmuslim and so on?
and that too with pathetic wordings!!
For God's sake, stop whining and go to Alibaba.com and order a few drones for yourself !
I'm wondering regarding some provoking thoughts of liberal mindset that TTP killing and agenda is unconstitutional while US drone is constitutional
@Sharath: No more theories. Just a celebration. Join the party mate.
@Faisal: Ahhh another delusional citizen, believing these "peace" talks will result in a solution. One cannot negotiate peace with people who want absolute power and will kill in order to get it. As for supporting Afghan Taliban, what in the world do YOU have to gain by supporting monsters who will kill you without flinching if you go against them or their ideology. You are fooling yourself.
@Jay: The citizens being killed by such terrorists are not standing hand in hand with these barbarians. You can thank the Pakistani government for that. Direct your comment where it counts.
@Badal: Yes, because it's not Taliban killing the people of Pakistan, it's the US, henna? eye roll And what exactly do you mean by "good" Taliban???
@Sexton Blake: Our sincere condolences on the loss of your idol.We understand that you are angry at the whole world in this time of a great loss to you and other TTP apologists.After all what does it matter to you that this murderer was responsible for the slaughter of 50,000 innocent Pakistanis.We know you would have liked him to live a little longer so that he could murder a few thousand more innocents.After all what is more braver than killing one's own countrymen-a nice way to fight one's enemies.
@numbersnumbers: Several million dead from US etc incursions Dear numbers, You are living in a lost fantasy world, and I doubt that you will ever comprehend anything related to reality. A it is you are just using up valuable ET space, which could be used for better purposes
@Usman Ali: 1) Please provide a link to the BBC reporter relating about the drones flying over the compound and Meshud's saying he was not worried, and also about the "500 armed men" visible in the courtyard that drones couldn't miss seeing! 2) Drone strikes try and minimize collateral damage, so waiting until he was in a vehicle away from other people would be expected.
@Sexton Blake: And of course YOU can "advise" all of us credible references to detail those "missed statistics" about the "Several Million Deaths" due to US/UK/NATO/Israeli activities over the last 13 years!!! NOT!!
no battle is won in this world unless there is some internal support and help. Even the great Lord Ram could not capture Lanka without the help of the brother of the king of Lanka. That's why they say -ghar ka bhedi Lanka dhai! So some people are protecting the Taliban and the others are targeting them. But the poor civilians suffer.
@IndianMuslim: you are not an Indian muslim
Now wait for more terror attacks in Pakistan because whenever TTP shows positive response for peace talks on the that exact time US targets TTP's leadership.......
@Green Tiger: Markhor anyway is going to be extinct.
@numbersnumbers Just a few days ago the bbc had their correspondent meet Hakimullah in waziristan. He reported that drones were flying so low over the yard that he feared of a strike. Hakimullah though confidently assured him that these drones will not strike. The correspondent was actually amazed at his confidence and realized that hakim had gotten used to the frequent drone flights over his yard. Ps: there were around 500 armed men in the yard and it would have been impossibe for the CIA not to have marked them already.
@Truth detector: And Pakistan was accusing India of funding and supporting the TTP in causing mayhem in Pakistan.The glee,excitement from Indians seems misplaced if one of their "allies" is killed
Drone zindabad! Long Live Drone. I say this only when drone kills such animals; not the innocent citizens.
@numbersnumbers: Dear numbers, You have a habit of missing important statistics. By my count US/UK/NATO/Israeli group activities have ensured that several million people are no longer with us as a result of their activities over the last 13 years. If I have missed something please advise me.
India loses another ally. Stop trying to destroy our nation, you should read what the word "blow back" means in history books.
I am confused. Are Pakistanis applauding the killing or denouncing it? Sometimes, the taliban are brothers and at other times they are RAW/CIA agents. If the TTP were CIA agents, then why would he be droned by the US? Pakistanis need to make up their minds.
@Usman Ali: BTW, Please tell us just how you know that "US had Intel on Hakim's where abouts (?) for a very long time"!
great news and thank you USA. shame on our army for not having the guts to kill this butcher
America had knowledge of all these TTP people for a long time and now after NS meeting they take out three top people of TTP. This shows a change of policy. Ask Karzai and MM Sigh how they feel. America also want to show that their actions could be very useful to Pakistan.
Pleeeeeeze someone nominate "DRONE" for (next year's) NOBEL "Peace Prize" !!!
I must congratulate the Pakistani spy agencies for providing the right coordinates to the Americans, who used this information to take out this terrorist with a drone strike.
@Wali Khan: Excuse me, but speaking of the "due process of law" you refer to, did I somehow miss the (many) trials that must have been held to sanction the slaughter of some 30,000 PLUS PAKISTANIS over the past decade????
@unbelievable: US not intimidated Killers without morals are difficult to control.
utter confusion. PM saying talks started while his interior minister says that they plan to start. They ask US to stop drones while a congressman from US say drones are carried out with our govt's permission. 'Reports' say that this Hakeemullah dude killed while his buddies at Mirahshah deny this.
What's going on is honestly beyond me? Hard to find the 'truth'...
indians are acting like monkeys on geni, s shoulders . making faces nd laughing at others but they are forgetting something. there wont be any geni after 2014..Maybe you should prepare yourself because tables are going to turn.
@Raj - USA: Sure.
@Aakashvaani: Thank you Aakashvaani.
Why Pakistanis are so sad and agitated, when a terrorist, hardliner got killed ? I am not able to understand it. Someone pls enlighten me on this
Why Pakistanis are so sad and agitated, when a terrorist, hardliner got killed ? I am not able to understand it.
Timing is everything. Just when Pakistan was ready to start a dialogue with TTP that would have shown everyone what disconnected and disunited group of thugs these people really are, you have this. Had USA been really sincere to pakistan it would have done so 4 years back. TTP is a foreign funded group of thugs, leadership doesn't count for much.
The US had intel on Hakim's where abouts for a very long time. Amazing that it striked on the very day when the formal talks were about to be started. Killing Hakimullah does not solve our problem. Every new taliban commander has been worse than his predecessor. Who ever comes in, will surely act more agressively to announce his arrival while using the retribution sentiments of various taliban groups. And to top it all Moharram is about to commence.
convenient timing this... when there was some noise being created about the legality of drones...
Now be ready for more revenge attack beloved Pakistanis-more extremism and radicalisation flourishing instead of education and literacy!
i hope ISI played some role in this.
@Rajesh:
your country has its own barbarians, who routinely set minorities on fire publicly and burn their villages. worry about them.
Death of a person who is responsible for 40000 deaths of our country men is a reason good enough for me..
@Lt Col Imtiaz Alam(retd): Pls give me the link, colonal.
indians just lost their greatest ttp assett. i am sure indian sleuths(RAW) are mourning today
Until now most of pakistanis say that hakimullah mehsud is the agent of RAW/CIA.Now he has been killed by us drone strike.Now what they are going to say ! Any other theory left !
Great news for Pakistan and a sad day for Imran Khan.
Taliban spokesman said earlier, 'there has been no contact about talks. He did get mother of all contacts.
@Lt Col Imtiaz Alam(retd):
Are you saying that you viewed TTP's Hakimullah Mehsud as a Pak militant asset rather than the CIA/RAW conspiratorial threat usually propagated by yourself?
The mental twists in reasoning that Taliban apologists go through.
To all the idiots here lambasting IK, is he the PM of the country?
Thank you USA Please do violate our sovereignty because OBL and other terrorists also violate our sovereignty. Please continue ....
with whom will we talk now ?! hehe
This is insanity to kill people by drone attack. We should recourse to due process of Law. Now Pakistan be ready to give more blood of poor people walking in streets. I am sure that will not impact on Rulers. Dear Pakistani just be ready to die in Bomb blasts.
Nawaz Sharif is letting the nation down by not securing the lives of tribal people and other citizens. This drone will trigger fresh wave of terrorism in Pakistan.
So what another Hakimullah will become chief tomorrow this is no solution to this disease or can they kill all tribal militants??? They just kept increasing in these last 11 years? But yes one thing now peace talks and ceasefire is in danger and our leaders wow they are very smart. Just my opinion(could be wrong).