PESHAWAR: A drone strike of the Fitna al Khawarij killed three members of the same family and injured 10 others in Bajaur district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, officials say on Thursday.
The attack took place overnight between July 1 and July 2 in the Damadola area of Bajaur district, which borders Afghanistan.
District police spokesperson Muhammad Israr said all the victims belonged to the same family.
“The drone attack killed three people and injured 10 others,” Israr said.
The dead included a five-year-old girl, a 15-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man.
Rescue teams shifted the injured to the District Headquarters Hospital in Khar for treatment.
Police have launched an investigation to determine the origin of the drone and identify those responsible for the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Fitna al Hindustan, increasingly using commercially available drones modified to drop explosives in attacks on security forces, pro government tribal elders and civilians.
Bajaur has witnessed several suspected drone and quadcopter attacks in recent months. The Afghan Taliban, supporters of the TTP, also involved in drone attacks.
On June 28, a suspected drone strike in the Wara Mamond area killed a child and injured a woman, according to local authorities.
In April, militants used a quadcopter to attack police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district, killing one officer and wounding another.
Separately, Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday it intercepted and destroyed four drones that crossed into southwestern Balochistan from Afghanistan, amid growing cross-border security concerns along the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier.
