The Chenagai airstrike took place on October 30, 2006, around 5:00 am local time. Missiles were fired at a

madrassa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

in Chenagai village in

Bajaur Bajaur District ( ps, باجوړ ولسوالۍ, ur, ) is a district in Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Until 2018, it was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then during restructuring that merg ...

region of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...

. 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. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

was accused of the attacks. The U.S. government denied involvement in the attack.

Long War Journal ''FDD's Long War Journal'' (LWJ) is an American news website, also described as a blog, which reports on the War on terror. The site is operated by Public Multimedia Incorporated (PMI), a non-profit media organization established in 2007. PMI i ...

blamed U.S. for the air strike as only U.S. was able to conduct precision night strikes in the region. The role of United States in the airstrike was confirmed later on.

Background

In January 2006, US forces in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

carried out an airstrike in Bajaur's Damadola village which US officials tried to cover up by saying it was aimed at al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. However, Al-Zawahiri never went to

The airstrike

The attack took place in Chenagai village near the town of

Khar Khar may refer to: Places * Khar, Mumbai, a suburb of Mumbai, India * Khar, Punjab, a town in the Punjab Province, Pakistan * Khar, Bajaur, a town in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan * Khar, Nepal, a village ...

, the main town in Bajaur region. The leader of the

, cleric Maulana Liaqat Ullah Hussain, was suspected to be sheltering al-Qaeda militants and was among the dead. Locals said the missiles were fired by the US drones.

U.S. involvement

According to the

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

, the attack was launched by a

MQ-1 Predator The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator (often referred to as the predator drone) is an American remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) built by General Atomics that was used primarily by the United States Air Force (USAF) and Central Intelligence Agency ...

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. 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. Local people said the victims included boys as young as 12.

, after conducting analysis of the strike, said the strike was indeed carried out by U.S. as Pakistan does not possess capabilities to conduct precision night strikes. The role of United States in the airstrike was confirmed later on.

Reaction

There were angry reactions in response to the strike. Many Muslim groups have condemned the action.

Siraj-ul-Haq Siraj ul Haq ( ur, سراج الحق; born 5 September 1962) is a Pakistani politician who was elected as the chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, a religious political party in Pakistan which seeks to establish an Islamic legal system. He also served a ...

, the senior Minister and Provincial Chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, resigned from the provincial cabinet in protest against the strikes. Sahibzada Haroonur Rashid, MNA (Member of National Assembly) from Bajaur Agency, also resigned from the National Assembly in protest.

Retaliation

Following attacks against the madrasa in the Bajaur tribal agency, on November 8, 2006, a

suicide bomber A suicide attack is any violent attack, usually entailing the attacker detonating an explosive, where the attacker has accepted their own death as a direct result of the attacking method used. Suicide attacks have occurred throughout histor ...

killed 42 Pakistani soldiers and injured 20 others in

Dargai Dargai ( ps, درگئی; ur, ) is one of the tehsils of Malakand District (the other being Batkhela) in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It located on the main highway from Peshawar to Swat, Dir and Chitral. The town of ...

, 85 miles north-west of

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital ...

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It has already called the deadliest attack by the militants on the army since it began operations against pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda force

Though no one has claimed responsibility as yet, the attack has been linked to the Bajaur militant

References