I was kidnapped by the Haqqani Network and held captive for seven months, from November 2008 to June 2009, in North and South Waziristan.

My guards absolutely feared drones.

They would watch very closely whenever a drone was overhead and tracked how many drones appeared. They thought that when several drones gathered overhead, a strike was about to happen.

They avoided gathering in groups because they feared drone strikes. We were told not to hang our clothes on the walls to dry because they were afraid that it would appear as if a large number of people were there and this would attract the attention of the drones, which would lead to an attack.

However, in Miranshah, North Waziristan, they still managed to carry out trainings. Two of my guards would stay with me and two would go off and learn how to make roadside bombs. So, despite the fact that the drone strikes were being carried out, they did the trainings, just in much smaller numbers.

I would say that during the time I was in captivity there were two dozen drone strikes in North and South Waziristan. In February 2009 there was an attack in South Waziristan that reportedly killed thirty people. Among them were Uzbeks, who my guards said were known for teaching Afghani and Pakistani Taliban how to make bombs. In that case the strikes seemed accurate in terms of those targeted and killed. In general, the strikes angered my guards and the Taliban.