Living Under Drones

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alleged militants,” most of whom were “Uzbek insurgents.”176 A Reuters wire released at around the same time reported that the strike was on “suspected Islamist militants” and killed ten people, while the Agence France-Presse reported that there were five “insurgents.”177 Neither Reuters nor AFP made any mention of the victims’ nationality.178 The BBC, for its part, reported that the strike was on a “house,” and that it had killed “at least eight people” of “Turkmen origin.”179 Within twenty-four hours, a number of other reputable sources, both western and Pakistani, reported that the strike had actually hit a mosque during morning prayers,180 and that some sources, at least, contended that the dead included local Waziri villagers.181 Some western media outlets updated their reports to reflect these new allegations,182 while others ignored the new information.183 The Associated Press referenced the May 24 strike in a separate article four days later, but failed to mention the possibility that a mosque had been struck.184

Rasool Dawar, Pakistan Officials Say US Drone Kills 10 Militants, AP WORLDSTREAM (May 24, 2012). See Hasbanullah Khan, ‘Five Militants Killed’ by US Drone in Pakistan, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE (May 23, 2012), http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h_NYzU3o4KUWtTBouMGdzKeOhqjw?docId= CNG.12419227fd3472cf2255b588417525f8.341; US Drone Kills 10 in Pakistan, IRISH TIMES (May 24, 2012), http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0524/breaking8.html. 178 See supra note 177 and accompanying text. The AFP article did mention, however, that in addition to “insurgents” being killed, there were reports that “a nearby mosque where three worshippers believed to be Central Asian nationals were wounded.” See Khan, supra note 177. 179 The article did mention that “a nearby mosque was also damaged.” US Drone ‘Kills 8’ in Pakistan, BBC NEWS (May 24, 2012), http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18186093. 180 See, e.g., Drone Strike Hits Pakistan Mosque, Say Locals, CHANNEL 4 (May 24, 2012), http://www.channel4.com/news/us-drone-attack-hits-pakistan-mosque; Malik Mumtaz Khan & Mushtaq Yusufzai, 10 Killed in Drone Attack on NWA Mosque, NEWS (May 25, 2012), http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-14861-10-killed-in-drone-attack-on-NWA-mosque; US Drone Strike Hits Mosque: 10 Killed, NATION (May 25, 2012), http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-newsnewspaper-daily-english-online/national/25-May-2012/us-drone-strike-hits-mosque-10-killed. 181 See, e.g., Drone Strike Hits Pakistan Mosque, Say Locals, supra note 180; Khan & Yusufzai, supra note 180. 182 See, e.g., Khan, supra note 177; Mushtaq Yusufzai, Pakistan Official: US Drone Strike Hits Mosque; 10 Killed, MSNBC.COM (May 23, 2012), http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/23/11839215pakistan-official-us-drone-strike-hits-mosque-10-killed?lite. 183 Chris Brummitt & Riaz Khan, Pakistan Convicts Doctor Who Helped Find bin Laden, AP WORLDSTREAM (May 24, 2012), http://bigstory.ap.org/content/pakistan-convicts-doctor-who-helpedfind-bin-laden-0; Haji Mujtaba, UPDATE 2-US Drone Strike Kills 10 in Northwest Pakistan—Officials, REUTERS (May 24, 2012), http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/24/us-pakistan-droneidUSBRE84N03I20120524. 184 Rasool Dawar, Associated Press, Pakistan: US Missiles Kill 5 Militants in NW, GUARDIAN (May 28, 2012), http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10261577. 176 177

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