Tragic blow in Pakistan: Army’s drone strikes kills 11, civilians among fallen in Taliban targeting

At least 11 people were killed Saturday in northwestern Pakistan when the military launched a series of drone strikes against the Taliban -deaths that the provincial government called "deeply regrettable."

Civilians Caught Up in Taliban Operation

Three attacks took place late Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, targeting "Pakistani Taliban strongholds" in the province bordering Afghanistan, a veteran senior police officer said off the record. There had been fighting there over recent months "It was just today morning that we received the news that two women and three children were among those killed," said the officer. "In protest, local citizens put the corpses of the victims on the street", declaring they were "innocent civilians" who died in the bombing, he explained. Provincial government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif confirmed late in the day that an "anti-terror operation was carried out in the mountainous region of Katlang, Mardan district, on the basis of confirmed intelligence about the presence of terrorists.

Pakistan’s Deadly Drone Campaign

Reports had shown that the area was a hideout and transit point of terrorist elements," he said in a statement. Later reports had shown that a number of unarmed civilians were present near the scene of the operations. The loss of innocent citizens, including women and children, is deplorable." He added that the protection of civilians is at times compromised by "the terrorists' strategy of mingling with. Another police officer said that "an inquiry is underway to ascertain whether Taliban insurgents were indeed present in the areas during the attack."It's too early to say if the affected areas were civilian or if they were hiding Taliban," he said.

'Spring campaign'

Mid-March saw the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), declare a "spring campaign" against security forces, promising "ambushes, targeted attacks, suicide attacks and strikes". The TTP has since claimed responsibility for up to 100 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In the hours-long firefight, the army sent in helicopter gunships, killing eight Taliban, with six other soldiers injured, the source added. Since January 1, at least 190 individuals, primarily security personnel, have been killed in attacks conducted by armed groups waging a rebellion against the government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as well as in the southern province of Balochistan. 

The Victims in Taliban Clash

The Taliban regime dismisses these claims and retaliates by accusing Pakistan of hosting "terrorist" cells in its territory, blaming in particular the regional Islamic State group IS-K. "Pakistan is expecting the Afghan government to take responsibility", the army replied in early March, keeping "the right to take the necessary actions to counter these threats emanating from the other side of the border". The previous year was the most violent year in nearly a decade for Pakistan, where over 1,600 were killed in assaults -- nearly half of them personnel of security forces -- as reported by the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.