June 28, 2025
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
Yet another drone strike in the southern District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has left 18 people injured, spreading fear in the region.
The incident occurred in the Kaachi Qamar area of Lakki Marwat. According to residents, the strike occurred near a mosque where militants were present. However, the drone dropped its payload on the other side of the mosque where children were playing and elders were waiting for maghrib prayer. The suspected militants fled, and the blast injured civilians instead.
“Where do we go?”
Habibullah, one of those who were injured, in a video said that the drone strike hit them as they were sitting near the wall of the mosque. He lay in a hospital bed as he spoke.
“The explosive fell from above and struck the people sitting there,” he said, adding that several others were also brought to the hospital with injuries.
Ghulam Akbar, a local journalist, confirmed the incident and said the area lies along the Kurram River delta, is known for the presence of militants.
“For the past two years, military operations have been ongoing here,” he said. “Security forces showed us the drone footage that appeared to show militants in the area, but the strike missed the target and instead landed near the mosque, where children and elders had collected. Sixteen people were injured, including children and elderly men.”
Akbar added that the injured were taken to City Hospital Lakki Marwat, and Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Sarai Naurang.
“Most were out of danger,” he said. “But what’s concerning is that local civil administration officials were absent. It was only late at night that military officers visited the hospitals, assured full medical care, and gave financial assistance to victims. They (military officials) admitted responsibility, stating the strike was targeting militants but missed the intended target.”
Naseer Turab Marwat, a member of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam and general secretary of the local Rannra Aman (Peace) Jirga, condemned the incident. “Even children know where these armed men operate — how can the government not know? Yet civilians are being hit,” he said. “The government asks locals not to feed or shelter these armed groups, but Kaachi Qamar is one of the poorest areas in Lakki Marwat. People can’t say no.”
He explained that civilians are caught in a deadly dilemma. “If they give shelter and food to the Taliban, the state punishes them. If they refuse, the Taliban punish them. People are asking: where do we go? What do we do?”
Marwat criticized the government’s call for locals to take up arms against these armed groups. “If civilians are expected to fight these armed groups, then what is the state’s role? If you’re here, then protect us. Otherwise, leave — we’ll talk to them ourselves using our traditions and religious values and ask them why they are doing this to us.”
Aftermath
Medical Superintendent of City Hospital Lakki Marwat, Dr. Kifayatullah, confirmed that all the injured brought to the hospital were being provided medical treatment.
The incident adds to rising fear and instability in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s southern districts, where civilians are increasingly caught between militant violence, security operations, and drone strikes.
Just days earlier, another drone strike in the Dashka area of Makeen, Upper South Waziristan, killed one child and injured several others. Locals reported that children were playing near a shop when a drone descended and dropped explosives as they chased it.
Following the attack in Dashka, a large number of people came onto the roads including tribal elders, youth, and members of the victims’ families, gathered in front of the security forces’ office, holding a negotiations and talks under the banner of a jirga to voice their outrage over the continued quadcopter operations in civilian areas.
However, the talks ended without any result. In light of this, tribal representatives also rejected the compensation package promised to them and announced a jirga of all Mehsud tribes to be convened in Makeen on July 10 to determine the collective response and future course of action.
This is the fourteenth such strike from the last few months, in which 22 people, including nine children, have been killed and 77 others, including 32 children, have been injured.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Amnesty International also expressed grave concern over the recurring drone strikes in KP and called for conducting prompt, independent, transparent, and effective investigations into these attacks and bringing all those responsible to justice through fair trials.
“Pakistani authorities have failed to take action to protect the lives and property of civilians in KP who continue to pay the price of an escalating number of drone strikes in the province. Last Friday’s drone strike, killing one child, is part of an alarming series of attacks which have escalated since March of this year”, said the statement.
“Use of drones and quadcopters to conduct attacks resulting in unlawful killing of civilians violates international law. Reports that the strikes have hit homes and volleyball games indicate a reckless disregard for civilian life. It has also demanded that in the cases where the Pakistani authorities are found to be directly responsible or where authorities failed to protect civilians from foreseeable threats, victims and families impacted in the strike must be provided with effective remedies, including compensation and other appropriate reparation,” the statement adds.