August 27, 2025
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
Monday night’s peaceful silence in the Baro Khel area of Mir Ali (North Waziristan) was destroyed after a familiar dread-inducing buzz split through the darkness. A sudden drone strike ended up snatching away the life of a two-year-old baby, Muhammad Hamas, who was instantly killed. His grandmother had been in the cowshed milking a cow, and he had been crawling towards her.
Following the attack, residents staged a two-day protest at the Shaheed Noor Islam Dawar Chowk, with the child’s body, demanding justice and an end to drone and mortar attacks on civilians.
Hamas’s grandfather, Mir Janib (41), a schoolteacher, told Voicepk that as the baby went with his grandmother into the cowshed, a quadcopter drone hovered overhead and dropped an explosive. The baby was killed instantly, while the grandmother, who was only a short distance away, sustained injuries and was shifted to Bannu for medical treatment.
Hamas’s father, who works as a driver in a Gulf country, had divorced his wife shortly after the baby was born, leaving him in the care of his grandmother.
According to Mir Janib, this was not the first time their family was targeted. “Earlier, one of my nephews, Ziaullah (13), a sixth grader, was killed in a drone strike while sitting on the top of the mulberry tree. Three other family members who were with him were severely injured. Over the past three months alone, two children of our family have been killed and four others, including women, have been injured in such attacks,” he said.
Recalling the latest incident, Janib said, “I had just finished dinner and was lying outside on a charpai, as people usually do in summer, when I heard the explosion. I rushed to my brother’s family and saw the devastating scene.”
He added that the fear of drones has now become a daily reality in the area.
“Whenever people hear the buzzing sound of drones, everyone sleeping outside rushes indoors, fearing that a bomb may be dropped. Most of the time, these strikes target innocent civilians,” he lamented.
Protest and jirgah
The protest that followed the incident lasted two days before being called off after negotiations with the local administration and military. Malik Nisar Ali Khan, a local ANP leader and member of the Utmanzai jirgah who participated in the talks, told Voicepk, “The purpose of the sit-in was to show the state, its people, and the world that instead of militants, it is civilians who are being killed. We presented four demands to the local administration and security forces: that this family should not be attacked again, the curfew imposed in North Waziristan should be lifted, local elder Malik Akbar Khan should be released from custody, and drone attacks on civilians should end, with compensation provided to the affected family.”
Khan said that the sit-in was dissolved and the baby was buried after security forces agreed to provide compensation and assured that no further attacks would target the family. The issues of curfews and other demands are scheduled to be discussed in a jirgah meeting on Friday. However, he is not confident that this assurance will put an end to these attacks as he says, “Many times such promises were made, but this state is not fulfilling them and does it again”.
Harassment and detentions
Khan also highlighted the harassment faced by the family. Hamas’s father, he said, had earlier been detained by security forces for two years, which left him physically and psychologically scarred. After his release, he moved to the Gulf, both to earn for his family and to escape continuous scrutiny by law enforcement.
“He was initially detained to pressure his brother, who was in the Taliban, to surrender. Although his brother later turned himself in and was released after more than two years in custody, the family continued to face repeated harassment. Eventually, his brother rejoined the Taliban due to frustration with this treatment, and now the entire family suffers, with relatives frequently detained or arrested. This is how authorities are compelling people to join the Taliban,” Khan said.
Mir Janib, the baby grandfather himself, was detained earlier this year when he brought the dead body of his sixth-grade nephew, who was killed in a drone strike. “I was investigated about links to the Taliban and about my nephew. I told them I am an educated government servant and have no connection with them. If you want my nephew, go arrest him — but don’t punish the rest of us,” he said.
He added, “Many families here have members in the Taliban, but we have no control over them. That does not mean the government should punish innocent family members. We are an educated family that only wants peace for our children.”
Civilian casualties mount
Data compiled by Voicepk shows alarming civilian casualties from drone strikes. Since April this year, over 30 people have been killed in Quadcopter drone attacks and more than 70 injured, most of them children. Of the 17 children killed, nine were girls and eight were boys.
Despite the gravity of the situation, no FIR has yet been registered in connection with Hamas’s killing. The District Police Officer of North Waziristan told Voicepk that an FIR would be filed “against unknown individuals,” as the perpetrators are not clearly identifiable. He admitted, however, that not a single person has been arrested in previous FIRs lodged against “unknown persons.”
Meanwhile, Malik Nisar Ali Khan said that security forces have admitted responsibility for the latest incident and apologized, though Voicepk.net could not independently verify the claim.