PARACHINAR: Three people were killed and another one was wounded when a US drone fired missiles at a compound in the Ghuzgarhi area near the Afghan border in Kurram Agency on Friday.

According to unconfirmed reports, one of the deceased identified as Maulvi Mohib was affiliated with the Haqqani network, the most wanted militant group to the US forces in Afghanistan.

This was the first drone strike inside Pakistani territory since US President Donald Trump announced his strategy for war in Afghanistan in August and blamed Pakistan for providing sanctuaries to militants.

“For its part, Pakistan often gives safe havens to agents of chaos, violence and terror,” said Mr Trump in his policy statement after which ties between the two countries were strained.

Well-placed sources in Peshawar said that Qari Saifullah, a senior leader of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Afghanistan, was the target but he survived the drone strike. They said Qari Saif was away from the place at the time of the attack. Officials said the drone fired two missiles at the compound in Khormank village, about 15km southwest of Parachinar, the administrative headquarters of the Kurram tribal region. Three people were killed and another suffered injuries. Drones kept flying over the area after the attack.

Unmanned planes frequently fly over the Kurram Valley.

The last drone attack occurred in June in Orakzai Agency in which a Haqqani group man was killed.

Reuters adds: Baseer Khan Wazir, the political agent and the most senior administrator in Kurram region, said about Friday’s attack: “Two missiles were dropped on the home of Maulvi Mohib and three people have been killed.”

Two Afghan Taliban sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Maulvi Mohib was affiliated with the Haqqani network.

“He remained associated with the Haqqani network but wasn’t a prominent figure,” said one senior Taliban member.

A second commander confirmed that Mohib was part of the Afghan Taliban: “We don’t differentiate [between] the Haqqani network and Taliban. This is just propaganda of the Western media,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2017