Damadola airstrike On 13 January 2006 the Central Intelligence Agency fired missile s into the Pakistani village of Damadola ( ) in the Bajaur ( Urdu : باجوڑ ) tribal area , about seven kilometres ( 4 . 5 miles ) from the Afghan border , killing at least 18 people . Originally the Bajaur tribal area government claimed that at least four foreign members of al - Qaeda were among the dead . United States and Pakistani officials later admitted that no al - Qaeda leaders perished in the strike and that only local villagers were killed . The attack purportedly targeted Ayman al - Zawahiri , second - in - command of al - Qaeda after Osama bin Laden , who was thought to be in the village . Airstrike . The attack was carried out by four CIA - operated unmanned Predator drones which launched four Hellfire missiles at a mud - walled compound , destroying three houses several hundred yards apart . Another report said that as many as 10 missiles were fired . The official number of dead is 18 , including eight men , five women and five children , but other reports indicate that as many as 25 people were killed . Fourteen of the dead were said to be from the same family . There is confusion over the actual number killed , since reports claims that 13 – 15 of the dead were buried immediately . Some sources say this was " according to Islamic custom " , others say they were buried " without customary funeral arrangements " . The Associated Press ( AP ) reported that unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials asserted that the attack was conducted based on intelligence that al - Zawahiri was invited to a dinner to mark the Islamic holiday of Eid al - Adha at the compound that was targeted . In the days after the attack , it was reported that several foreign members of al - Qaeda were among the dead . The provincial government of Bajaur , where the attack took place , stated that " four or five foreign terrorists " were killed in the attack , and that " 10 or 12 " extremists had attended in all . ABC reported that al - Qaeda bomb maker and chemical weapons expert Midhat Mursi was killed in the strike . According to Pakistani officials , Khalid Habib , the al - Qaeda operations chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan , and Abdul Rehman al Magrabi , a senior operations commander for al - Qaeda , were also killed . It was reported that the al - Qaeda members were attending a " terror summit " called to funnel new money into attacks against US forces in Afghanistan . United States and Pakistani officials later admitted that none of those al - Qaeda members perished in the strike and that only local villagers were killed . Midhat Mursi and Khalib Habib were killed in two other missile strikes in 2008 . Two Pakistani intelligence officials said Libyan - born Abu Faraj al - Libbi , who was captured in Pakistan in May 2005 , told interrogators that he had met al - Zawahiri last year at the home of Bakhtpur Khan , one of the thirteen villagers killed in the airstrike . After that confession , US and Pakistani intelligence agents , with the help of local tribesmen and Afghans , monitored Bakhtpur Khan ' s home . Responses . Pakistan ' s Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it protested to US Ambassador Ryan Crocker over the " loss of innocent civilian lives . " The Pakistani government angrily denounced the attack . Pakistan ' s Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed called the attack " highly condemnable " and said the government wanted " to assure the people we will not allow such incidents to recur . " Tension remained high throughout tribal areas . Angry Pakistanis protested against the strike , claiming it was illegal , and that the attack that killed innocent civilians . Thousands of tribesmen staged protests and a mob set fire to the office of Associated Development Construction , an ostensibly non - governmental organisation funded by the U . S . Agency for International Development , in a sign of increasing frustration over a recent series of suspected US attacks along Pakistan ' s frontier with Afghanistan . On Sunday January 15 , tens of thousands of Pakistanis took part in anti - US protests across the country . The largest demonstration was held in the city of Karachi where protesters chanted " Death to America " and " Stop bombing innocent people " . Hundreds of riot police were deployed to control the crowds . A leader in the coalition of Islamic groups that organised the nationwide protests demanded that General Musharraf step down . Also on January 15 , US politicians expressed regret over the deaths caused by the attack but said the airstrike was justified . " It ' s terrible when innocent people are killed ; we regret that , " said US Senator John McCain . " We apologize , but I can ' t tell you that we wouldn ' t do the same thing again . We have to do what we think is necessary to take out al Qaeda , particularly the top operatives . This guy has been more visible than Osama bin Laden lately . " Senator Evan Bayh blamed the Pakistani government for being unable to control the frontier , rhetorically asking " Now , it ' s a regrettable situation , but what else are we supposed to do ? It ' s like the Wild , Wild West out there . The Pakistani border ( with Afghanistan ) is a real problem . " George W . Bush provided written legal authority to the CIA to hunt down and kill people designated as enemy combatant " high - value targets " without seeking further approval each time the agency is about to stage an operation . The CIA believes it possesses all the necessary approvals within its " counterterror " center in Langley , Virginia to fire missiles anywhere in the world , including Pakistan , when a high - value al - Qaida target is spotted . The agency doesn ' t require further clearance from the White House , local governments , or the CIA director to kill an al - Qaida operative . The purpose of this expanded authority is to expedite rapid action in case a targeted killing opportunity is time - sensitive . On January 30 , a video showing al - Zawahri wearing white robes and a white turban , said the January 13th airstrike killed " innocents " and said the United States had ignored an offer from al - Qaida leader Osama bin Laden for a truce .