PAKISTAN: A suspected U.S. drone strike on a madrasa in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province kills a senior member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, but angers Imran Khan whose party governs the province

Record ID: 184910

  • Title: PAKISTAN: A suspected U.S. drone strike on a madrasa in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province kills a senior member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, but angers Imran Khan whose party governs the province
  • Date: 21st November 2013
  • Summary: HANGU, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 21, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4:3) (REUTERS) PEOPLE STANDING OUTSIDE MADRASA THAT WAS HIT BY DRONE STRIKES PEOPLE STANDING AT CLOSED GATE OF MADRASA CROWD CARRYING COFFIN TOWARDS AMBULANCE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE CROWDING AROUND AMBULANCE AMBULANCE LEAVING MADRASA PREMISES ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN (NOVEMBER 21, 2013) (REUTERS) OFFICE OF PAKISTAN TEHREEK-E-INSAF (PTI) PARTY OF PAKISTANI CRICKETER-TURNED-POLITICIAN, IMRAN KHAN IMRAN KHAN ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE REPORTERS/ PARTY WORKERS SEATED REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI CRICKETER-TURNED-POLITICIAN, IMRAN KHAN SAYING: "We are going to block all the routes that come through KPK and they go into (REPORTER ASKING: "Have you decided that?") "Yes, we have already decided. We're going to block all the NATO routes. And it will be our workers. But in view of this drone attack, in view of this latest drone attack on KPK soil, there's going to be a cabinet meeting tomorrow, and the cabinet will take a decision that maybe officially the government would take a stand against it." REPORTERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI CRICKETER-TURNED-POLITICIAN, IMRAN KHAN SAYING: 'Four children have been killed. We will release their names, we will even get the pictures, students. Four children have been killed and two teachers have been killed in this. And there have been several people wounded badly." NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) PAKISTANI CRICKETER-TURNED-POLITICIAN, IMRAN KHAN SAYING: "We want a clear pronouncement by the American government that there will not be any more drone attacks in Pakistan." CAMERAMEN FILMING
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Pakistan
  • Country: Pakistan
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADMYDHI00WMCT79ED4IRANYEH6
  • Story Text: A suspected U.S. drone strike on an Islamic seminary in northwestern Pakistan killed a senior member of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network early on Thursday (November 21), Pakistani and Afghan sources said.
    It was the first drone strike in the nuclear-armed South Asian nation since Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud was killed on Nov. 1 in an attack which prompted a fierce power struggle within the fragmented insurgency.
    Police sources said just before sunrise the unmanned aircraft fired at the madrasa in the Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, which is being governed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan.
    Maulvi Ahmad Jan, an adviser to Sirajuddin Haqqani, the feared head of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, was in the madrasa when at least three rockets hit his room.
    A senior Haqqani official told Reuters they had " lost another valuable figure this morning."
    A Pakistani intelligence source said that Sirajuddin Haqqani himself was spotted at the same seminary just two days earlier.
    The group is one of the main enemies of U.S.-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan, frequently launching attacks on foreign troops from mountainous hideouts in Pakistan's lawless North Waziristan region.
    But it has been under considerable strain this month since its chief financier, Nasiruddin Haqqani, was shot dead in Islamabad on Nov. 11. No one claimed responsibility for that shooting.
    Most drone strikes occur in the lawless North Waziristan region where Taliban insurgents are holed up, and are rare in densely populated places like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
    Imran Khan, who has threatened that his party workers will rally to convince the government to block the NATO supply route passing through KPK if the drone attacks are not stopped, was incensed by the latest drone strike.

    "We are going to block all the routes that come through KPK," Khan told a news conference in Islamabad.
    He said initially only the party workers were planning to rally for closure of NATO supplies on Saturday (November 23) , but the latest attack had changed things.

    " But in view of this drone attack, in view of this latest drone attack on KPK soil, there's going to be a cabinet meeting tomorrow, and the cabinet will take a decision that maybe officially the government would take a stand against it," he said.
    Police and militant sources said the missiles hit only two of the nine rooms in the seminary where Jan was staying with several other militants. At least four other people also died in the attack but dozens of students sleeping in other rooms were unhurt, they said.
    But Khan said the drone attack had killed students and teachers of the madrasa.
    'Four children have been killed. We will release their names, we will even get the pictures, students. Four children have been killed and two teachers have been killed in this. And there have been several people wounded badly," Khan said.

    "We want a clear pronouncement by the American government that there will not be any more drone attacks in Pakistan," he added.
    Pakistan publicly opposes U.S. drone strikes, saying they kill too many civilians and violate its sovereignty, although in private officials admit the government broadly supports them.
    In a statement issued from the Foreign Office, the government condemned the drone attack calling it a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
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