| Daande Darpkhel airstrike | |
|---|---|
| Part of War in North-West Pakistan | |
The MQ-9 Reaper began operation in Afghanistan in Oct. 2007 |
|
| Type | UAV attack |
| Location | North Waziristan, Pakistan |
| Target | Taliban figure |
| Date | 8 September 2008 |
| Executed by | United States |
| Casualties | 23 killed 18 injured |
The Daande Darpkhel airstrike took place on the morning of 8 September 2008 when a United States Air Force drone aircraft fired a number of missiles at a former madrassa (religious school) complex located in the village of Daande Darpkhel, near the main town Miranshah, North Waziristan, Pakistan. It was part of a series of drone attacks targeting presumed militants, which took advantage of the power vacuum in Pakistan, following the fall of Pervez Musharraf on 18 August 2008.
The airstrike killed 23 people, including eight children, and wounded at least eighteen. The targets of the airstrike were Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, neither of whom were present at the time.[1] Among 23 people killed was one of Jalaluddin's two wives, sister, sister-in-law and 8 of his grandchildren.[2]
However their family had arrived just ½ hour before, suggesting that the US acted on fresh intelligence, possibly video from the drones transmitted in real time.[3]
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