Thousands protest after a suspected drone strike kills 4 children in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — A suspected drone strike killed four children and wounded five others in northwest Pakistan, prompting thousands of residents to stage a protest by placing the children’s bodies on a main road to demand justice, local elders said on Tuesday.

It wasn’t immediately clear who was behind Monday’s attack in Mir Ali, which has been a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, and there was no comment from the army.

“We are not blaming anyone, but we want justice, and the government should tell us who killed our children,” local tribal elder Mufti Baitullah said.

He warned that the protest, currently staged at one regional roadblock, could expand if authorities fail to answer.

“We will not bury the bodies until we are told who is responsible for killing our innocent children,” he said, as people chanted “we want justice.”

There have been civilian casualties in military strikes in some parts of the country in recent years. In March, 11 people, including women and children, were killed when a drone attack targeted a house in the northwestern city of Mardan.

A statement by the provincial government at the time had only said that there was “collateral damage” in an operation that was conducted to target militants in a remote village. Residents in March also rallied until the government agreed to compensate the victims’ families.

Abdullah Khan, the managing director of the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies think tank, said Tuesday that militants also have been using quadcopters to target troops, but it still was unclear who was responsible for the drone attack in Mir Ali.

The latest civilian casualties came amid ongoing military operations against the Pakistani Taliban, which have a strong presence in Mir Ali, a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, are a separate insurgent group from the Afghan Taliban, and they often target troops in the region.

Nayak Muhammad Dawar, a provincial minister, condemned the attack in a statement Tuesday. He said that investigations were ongoing.

Mir Ali and nearby districts located near Afghanistan were long a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups. The TTTP have stepped up attacks in the region in recent months.

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Rasool Khan contributed to this report.