| Chenagai airstrike | |
|---|---|
| Part ofWar on Terror | |
| Location | Chenagai,Bajaur,Pakistan |
| Date | 30 October 2006 |
Attack type | Airstrike |
| Deaths | 70–82[1] |
| Perpetrators | Unknown (Pakistan or United States) |
TheChenagai airstrike took place on October 30, 2006, around 5:00 am local time in the Chenagai village ofBajaur Agency (today Bajaur District) of theFederally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA, todayKhyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, KPK) onPakistan's western border withAfghanistan. Both Pakistan and the United States were accused of conducting the attack, however the United States officially denied responsibility for the attack.
Security and terrorism commentatorAlexis Debat reported the target of the strike wasAyman al-Zawahiri,al-Qaeda's second-in-command. Though Zawahiri was not among the dead and was killed in a July 2022 airstrike in Kabul, two to five senior al-Qaeda commanders were present or during or shortly before the attack includingMatiur Rehman Ali Muhammad, mastermind of the2006 transatlantic aircraft plot, andFaqir Mohammad, a close friend of Zawahiri and deputy leader ofTehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
No official count of casualties was undertaken, local sources claim between 70 and 82 were killed in the attack.[2][3]
The attack took place in Chenagai village near the town ofKhar, the headquarters of Bajaur Agency. The leader of themadrassa, clericMaulana Liaqat Ullah Hussain, was suspected to be sheltering al-Qaeda militants and was among the dead.
According toABC News, the attack was launched by aMQ-1 Predator withAyman al-Zawahiri as its intended target.[2] However, the report's author has since been removed fromABC's site due to questions concerning the reliability of his reporting.
Pakistani officials have said that the strike was conducted by the U.S. and that they have also requested the U.S. not to violate their sovereignty again.[citation needed] In an article immediately after the strike,Bill Roggio of theLong War Journal, concluded the strike was indeed carried out by U.S. as Pakistan does not possess capabilities to conduct precision night strikes.[4]
There were angry reactions in response to the strike. ManyMuslim groups have condemned the action.Siraj-ul-Haq, the senior Minister and Provincial Chief of theJamaat-e-Islami party, resigned from the provincial cabinet in protest against the strikes.[5]Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid, MNA (Member of National Assembly) from Bajaur Agency, also resigned from the National Assembly in protest.[6]
On November 8, 2006, asuicide bomber killed42 Pakistani soldiers and injured 20 others inDargai, 85 miles north-west ofIslamabad.[7] The bombing was named the deadliest attack by the militants on the Pakistani armed forces since it began operations against pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda forces.[8] Though no claims of responsibility were issued, the attack has been linked to the Bajaur militants.
And more than once the United States has gotten it wrong -- perhaps most tragically on Oct. 30, 2006, when an errant drone strike obliterated an Islamic boarding school in Chenagai, Pakistan, killing 82 people.