"Two pilotless aircraft fired at least four missiles at around 9:30 am (0330 GMT) killing up to 23 people, most of them were women and children," said Sanaullah Khan, a local resident who witnessed the attack. Khan said the missiles flattened several residences and an adjoining girls' seminary. But he denied reports that a separate madrassa founded by Haqqani, an associate of Osama bin Laden, was also struck during the attack.
Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin were not in the compound when it was targeted, he said. But some of Haqqani's relatives, including his sister, were reportedly killed and injured. A security official in the area verified the death toll and said it could rise further because several seminary students were still feared to be trapped under tons of debris.
Local residents were hesitantly clearing the rubble, fearing more US missile strikes. Around two dozen people were reported injured, many of them with serious wounds, and taken to hospital in Miranshah. According to Khan, drones have been flying over the area for the past few days and local residents also fired at them using their AK-47 assault rifles.
An army spokesman confirmed that explosions occurred near Miranshah but refused to give further details. The army on Monday said soldiers arrested a teenage suicide bomber as he was about to attack a military convoy in the garrison town of Nowshera in the North West Frontier Province. The bomber was wearing an explosive vest weighing more than 10 kilogrammes. Separately, the security forces claimed killing at least 10 militants in overnight fighting in the violence-hit Swat district.