Chenagai

Chenagai airstrike

Date	October 30-31, 2006
Location	Chenagai, Bajaur, Pakistan
Result	Successful strike on suspected Taliban stronghold (Pakistani government claims).

Belligerents

CIA (as cited by eyewitness),

Pakistan Army (Pakistani government claims)

Pro-Taliban militants (Pakistani claim)

Strength

Unspecified number of aircraft (Pakistani government claims 3 gunships while eyewitness reports drones)

Unspecified (estimated to be 90)

Casualties and losses

None

70-80

The Chenagai airstrike took place on October 30, 2006, around 5:00 am local time. Missiles were fired at a madrassa in Chenagai village in Bajaur region of Pakistan. An eyewitness has stated that the madrassa was filled with local students who had resumed studies after the Eid ul-Fitr holiday. 82 people died in the attack. It was initially reported that the Pakistani military carried out the attack, but the United States was later accused of the attacks. The U.S. government denied involvement.

The attack came two days after about 3,000 fighters held a rally near Khar, shouting slogans in support of Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's leader. In January 2006, US forces in Afghanistan carried out an airstrike in Bajaur's Damadola village which US officials said was aimed at al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Al-Zawahiri was not present during the attack.

The attack took place in Chenagai village near the town of Khar, the main town in Bajaur region. The leader of the madrassa, cleric Maulana Liaqat Ullah Hussain, was believed to be sheltering al-Qaeda militants and was among the dead. Locals claimed that the missiles were fired by US drones. About 15 minutes later, they said, three helicopter gunships of the Pakistan Army arrived and fired a few rockets that slammed into nearby hills.

According to the American Broadcasting Company, the attack was launched by a MQ-1 Predator with Ayman al-Zawahiri as its intended target. However, the report's author has since been removed from ABC's site due to questions concerning the reliability of his reporting.

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Wikipedia