No-civilian-drone-deaths-in-Pakistan claim false: US documents

US intelligence officials were aware that at least one civilian had died in drone strikes in Pakistan during 2011, despite claims to the contrary made by the man now running the Central Intelligence Agency.

In June 2011, John Brennan, at the time President Barack Obama’s chief counterterrorism adviser, stated publicly that for “almost a year” no civilian had died in US drone strikes in Pakistan.

But leaked US intelligence documents obtained by news agency McClatchy show this was not true.

According to national security reporter Jonathan Landry, the intelligence documents, which chronicle the drone war in Pakistan, admit to a civilian death on April 22 2011 – two months prior to Brennan’s public claim.

At the time of the strike, an anonymous US official had insisted to CNN that “there is no evidence to support that claim [of civilian casualties] whatsoever”.

The April 22 drone strike hit a house before dawn, killing at least 25 people in North Waziristan. Seven media organisations reported that at least five civilians died, including three children. Both Associated Press and the bureau sent investigators into the field. Each confirmed that civilians, including women and children, were killed in the attack.

The McClatchy investigation involves the most significant leak so far of US intelligence documents covering the CIA’s Pakistan drone war.

The documents, which have not yet been published, are said to cover two periods: 2006 to 2008, and January 2010 to September 2011.

Reporting on the leaked papers indicate that what US officials say publicly about drone strikes does not always match their private records.