Pakistan Condemns ‘Zawahiri’ Strike

AP: DAMADOLA, Pakistan—Pakistan on Saturday condemned a purported CIA airstrike on a border village that officials said unsuccessfully targeted al-Qaida’s second-in-command, and said it was protesting to the U.S. Embassy over the attack that killed at least 17 people.

Thousands of local tribesmen, chanting “God is Great,” demonstrated against the attack, claiming the victims were local villagers without terrorist links and had never hosted Ayman al-Zawahri.

Mohammad Zubair / AP

Pakistani tribal villagers view damage caused by airstrikes in the northwestern village of Damadola, near the Afghan border in Pakistan, where 17 people were killed Jan. 14. Villagers whose homes were destroyed in a U.S airstrike targeting Al Qaeda’s No. 2,  Ayman al-Zawahri, denied that he was ever there. Thousands of people marched in three separate protests against the attack, and a mob set fire to the office of a U.S.-funded aid group.