Three strikes of note: stories behind our data
Khyber pass- Flickr/olivier.levigne
The Bureau’s database of Pakistani drone strikes contains close to 300 entries, ranging from the very first strike in 2004 through to the most recent, which occurred on the day of publication. Each contains a highly detailed breakdown of statistics, including casualty figures, civilian deaths, location, date, time, and more.
Compiling the wealth of information we’ve gathered into a single database reduces some of what we’ve discovered to mere numbers. Although this can tell us a great deal about trends, patterns and outlying events within the broader context of the strikes, it can also obscure the brutal reality of individual events. It’s only when you examine the details of each individual strike that a picture emerges of stubbornly determined militants intent on attacking American troops in Afghanistan; of angry and frustrated civilians clamouring for an end to drone strikes; or of innocent children caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Of the hundreds of drone attacks we’ve researched, many stand out as being strategically intriguing, geopolitically significant or, quite simply, extraordinarily violent. Behind each of them lies a compelling story. Here are three that stand out in particular:
B47 – Azam Warsak – December 11 2008
This strike is one of the last to be conducted under the presidency of George W. Bush. Seven people, possibly including three Punjabi militants, are killed when a drone fires a missile into a house in Azam Warsak, South Waziristan. However, the strike also damages a madrassa next-door, and villagers are reported as claiming that all those killed were civilians.
A local religious scholar, who called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to put an end to the strikes, is quoted as saying: ‘these planes have deprived the innocent tribesmen of their mental peace and badly affected their routine life’. He also voices anger at the Pakistani government for failing to prevent attacks on civilian areas.
Ob167 – Khushali – December 6 2010
This strike, in which a drone attack is reported to have killed two civilians, is an example of situations in which the determination to kill militant targets appears to escalate into indiscriminate behaviour that results in the death of innocent people.
Pakistan Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud October 2009- Flickr/shahsagar
A drone strike on a car in Khushali, North Waziristan, successfully kills two alleged militants. A third, however, escapes from the wrecked vehicle and flees into a nearby shop, where he presumably believes he can safely hide. Undeterred, the pursuing drone reportedly fires two further missiles into the shop. Reports say that the militant target was killed, but also amongst the casualties were two civilians.
Ob219 – Karez – June 15 2011
This is one of only two strikes in which no-one is killed or even harmed (in the other, B21, four civilians were injured), illustrating just how rare it is that reported drone attacks don’t result in a death.
In this strike in Karez, North Waziristan, drones fire a missile at a moving car with four alleged militants inside. However, the missile overshoots its target, missing the car completely. The four occupants promptly abandon the car and flee into a nearby apple orchard. Unlike Ob167, the drones choose not to follow the targets; instead they fire a second missile at the vehicle, destroying it completely.
