Naurak (N. Waziristan) Drone Attack VII – Oct 2011
Date: 31/10/2011
Location: North Waziristan Agency, FATA, Pakistan
Perpetrators: United States
Victims: 2 Killed
What Happened?
31 October 2011: A U.S. drone strike destroyed a house and car in the Naurak or Mubarikshahi area of Mirali Tehsil. This attack reportedly occurred at around 2005 hours. Little information came about the attack, until the news broke that two teenagers were killed while driving their car. Tariq Khan, 16, and Waheed, initially reported to be 12, were killed.
Two months after this attack, Western news agencies began a disinformation campaign to discredit the fact that Waheed was a child. It was claimed that Waheed’s badly burnt torso was bigger than a typical 12-year-old child. It was later learnt that Waheed’s picture, as shown on his coffin, was actually a few years old and he was estimated to be a 15- or 16-year-old boy.
Kareem Khan, a local and Tariq’s uncle, testified to the BBC that Tariq was an activist in his community and actively campaigned against U.S. drone strikes. Tariq had joined a public rally against drone strikes in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, only a few days prior. Kareem himself had lost a son in a 2010 drone strike, but it is not yet known which strike.
There appears to be no credible information about possible casualties from the missile that struck and collapsed a house in the area.
Sources: BBC, The News, The Nation, ABC
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