Machi Khel (N. Waziristan) Drone Attack VII – Feb 2012
Date: 25/02/2012
Location: North Waziristan Agency, FATA, Pakistan
Perpetrators: United States
What Happened?
25 February 2012: A U.S. drone attack targeted a platoon of Pakistan Army soldiers securing the wreckage of a downed U.S. drone in the Machi Khel area of Mirali. The U.S. drone had been shot down in self-defence by elements of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group. Pentagon officials declined to comment on the downed drone.
An anonymous security official reported that the CIA had deliberately targeted the wreckage because it contained two intact missiles, at the expense of any ‘allied’ Pakistani troops. The U.S. coalition had previously killed 24+ Pakistani soldiers last November in Pakistan’s Mohmand Agency in an alleged ‘friendly fire’ incident.
Sources: Dawn, Tribune, The News
OMM-PK310