November 13, 2025
By Kaleem Ullah
LAHORE
Three people, including a minor, were killed and four others injured in a drone attack in the Sardi Khel area of Jani Khel, southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The incident took place at Mandi Sardikhel Adda around 5 p.m. when local youth, as usual, were sitting on charpoys outside shops, chatting about their daily routines, when a quadcopter drone dropped a mortar shell on them.
Rehan Ullah, 28, the maternal cousin of Habib Ullah, one of the minors who had been killed, told Voicepk about the incident over the phone. Rehan Ullah said he had been returning from the funeral prayer of another victim of the attack. He confirmed that the strike had occurred in the main Adda of Sardi Khel, where people were busy with their daily routines and a lot of young people had collected to discuss their day’s end, as is common in rural areas.
“My six-year-old cousin Habib Ullah had gone to the bazaar with his father. He was sitting on his father’s motorcycle while his father went inside a shop when the explosion occurred, injuring him along with others. People immediately rushed to help and started taking the injured to the hospital,” said Rehan. “Habib Ullah’s father, Zahir Ullah, picked him up and drove him to the hospital in a car, while other injured persons were placed in another vehicle.”
Rehan also claimed that as the people were transporting the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) in Bannu, they came under direct fire from the Tochi security forces’ check post located on the main Bannu–Jani Khel road.
“My cousin’s father said that as they left the paved road near the Tochi check post—since the road is diverted there—and were about to rejoin the main road, the security forces from the check post opened straight fire on them,” he related. “Fortunately, no one in that car was hurt. However, the second car, which was carrying the injured Farooq Ullah, came under fire. The driver jumped out, but Farooq, who was already wounded in the drone strike, was hit by bullets along with his friend Amjad Ullah, who was helping him get to the hospital. While the minor succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital.”
Heavy deployment
Jani Khel and Sardi Khel are heavily militarized areas with a significant presence of the Taliban and other armed groups. The region is located about 35 kilometers from Bannu city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, bordering North Waziristan to the northwest, Lakki Marwat to the northeast, and other parts of Bannu district to the southwest.
Residents say that due to the tense law and order situation, they cannot freely leave their homes after 6 p.m. and are effectively trapped between the Taliban and the security forces, whom they hold equally responsible for their daily hardships.
Five months ago, a clash broke out between the military and militants in this part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. On May 11, another quadcopter strike hit a house in the area, injuring 15 people. In response to this, members of the Jani Khel tribe staged a sit-in protest along with the bodies of the deceased, demanding justice for the victims. The protest was held in front of the main police station adjacent to a military fort.
In recent months, quadcopter drone attacks have escalated across Pakistan’s tribal areas and adjacent districts, reportedly carried out by both security forces and militant groups. Data compiled by Voicepk shows alarming civilian casualties from these strikes. Since April this year, more than 46 people have been killed and over 150 injured — most of them children.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), three people, including a minor, were killed and four others injured in a quadcopter strike carried out by Fitna Al-Khawaraj in the Sardikhel area of Jani Khel, Bannu district, on Tuesday.
It states that the bodies and the injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital by locals using private vehicles. The FIR identified the deceased as Habibullah, 5, a resident of Malikhel Jani Khel, and Amjad Ali, 35, and Irfanullah, 35, both residents of Sardikhel Jani Khel. The injured were named as Rukhniaz, 35, Naheedullah, 24, Mohammad Rauf, 33, and Irshadullah, 35, all residents of Jani Khel.
It further stated that the private vehicles transporting the injured to the DHQ Hospital came under ambush by Fitna Al-Khawaraj — a term used in the FIR to refer to the Taliban — resulting in additional injuries.