In the fall of 2013, Rafiq ur Rehman, a school teacher from the
remote tribal region of North Waziristan, in Pakistan, stood with his
12-year-old son, Zubair, and 9-year-old daughter, Nabila, in Washington,
D.C., preparing to challenge one of the U.S. government’s most
secretive means of killing.
The Rehmans say a missile fired from a U.S. drone killed 68-year-old
Momina Bibi — Rehman’s mother, and grandmother to the two young children
— in an October 2012 airstrike. Both Zubair and Nabila were present
when the attack happened and suffered injuries. The missile had struck
their grandmother straight on, obliterating her completely. There were
no others killed in the attack and no substantiated reports of
terrorists at the scene.
According to the family’s account, Bibi was killed tending okra while her grandkids played nearby.
Nabila ur Rehman, 9, was injured by a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. (Jim Watson/Getty Images)
