At least 16 civilians were injured in a drone strike at Jani Khel in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday. The drone strike was carried out by the Pakistan Army in response to alleged support for the Taliban. The victims are mostly women and children.
انڈیا سے جنگ بند اور اپنی عوام سے جنگ میں مزید تیزی آگئی ہے اور آج جانی خیل پختونخواہ کے علاقہ میں ایک سویلین کے گھر پر ڈرون حملے میں بچوں،عورتوں سمیت 13 افراد زخمی ھوگئے ہیں#StopStateTerrorism pic.twitter.com/wvBez2aLR8
— Shafiq Ahmad Adv (@ShafiqAhmadAdv3) May 11, 2025
The drone strike was against Pashtun civilians was carried out only a short time before the DG ISPR press conference on the India-Pakistan ceasefire. The DG ISPR told the media then that the Pakistan Army never targets civilians.
The Pakistan Army deliberately targeted civilian areas in Jammu & Kashmir during the conflict with India. Their military action was almost exclusively orchestrated to cause maximum damage in civilian areas in India. The most drone strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa confirms that the deliberate targeting of civilians is the standard operation procedure for the Pakistan Army.
This is not the first time that drone strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have cause massive civilian casualties. On 29th March, the Pakistan Army carried out drone strikes at the Katlang Tehsil of Mardan district. 9 civilians were killed in the attack. The victims included two women and two children.
The state persecution of Pashtuns has been the norm in Pakistan for a long time. Last year, the Pashtun Protection Movement was banned by Pakistan after accusing the group of supporting the Pakistan Taliban. The group denied the allegations and asserted that their only objective is speaking up for the rights of the ethnic Pashtuns. In clashes that erupted following the ban, 3 protesters were killed by the law enforcement authorities.
