Dande Darpe Khel (N. Waziristan) Drone Attack XV – Oct 2011
Date: 14/11/2011
Location: North Waziristan Agency, FATA, Pakistan
Perpetrators: United States
Victims: 6 Killed
What Happened?
14 October 2011: A U.S. drone strike destroyed a car in the Shehzadkot area of Dande Darpe Khel in Miranshah. This was the second attack in two days on this town, reportedly occurring at around 1645 hours. A local news agency cited eyewitnesses, who reported that three men standing near a car were targeted.
Confirmation later came forth from the Egyptian Islamic Group that Ahmed Omar Abdul Rehman, the son of Omar Abdul Rehman, who had been in American custody since 1995 for the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing, was among the casualties. A second man, known as Nadeem or Abdullah, a financier of the Haqqani Network was also killed.
An Al Qaeda martyr statement was released in April 2012, indicating that Abu Miqdad Al Masri, Al Miqdad Rafi Mustafa, and Khalid Rafi Mustafa had been killed in this attack. Al Masri was a known member of the Taliban’s Quetta Shura.
The Obama administration had struck this town, a stronghold of Haqqani Network, after expressing frustration with the Pakistani government and ISI for supporting the group. A leaked cable of the U.S. ambassador Ryan Crocker indicate that this fury was short-lived and not meaningfully followed upon.
Sources: AP, The News, Long War Journal, Washington Post
OMM-PK295