Pakistan: US Drones Kill 21 People
Local Editor
Missiles fired by US drones rained on suspected militant targets in North Waziristan on Thursday, killed at least 21 people.
According to sources, six people were killed and two others injured when two missiles slammed into a compound in the village of Spilga near Miramshah. The identities of the persons who died could not be ascertained.
Hours later, another drone attacked a moving vehicle on the Zekerkhel-Khaisur road in Mirali tehsil.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people over the past eight years.
According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in the tribal belt in 2009, 101 in 2010 and 64 last year.
Also, according to a report released by the Conflict Monitoring Center in January, at least 609 people were killed as a result of 75 drone strikes in Pakistan in 2011 alone. The group has documented 303 drone strikes since 2004, with a total death toll of at least 2,661.
Despite US claims of using drone strikes to combat Taliban, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a recent television interview that drone strikes were counter-productive as it often caused civilian casualties. He had also made it clear that his government had not given permission for drone strikes inside Pakistan as it violated the country's sovereignty.
President Barack Obama in January confirmed for the first time that US drones attacked Taliban and al-Qaeda militants on Pakistani soil.
Source: news agencies, edited by moqawama.org
Missiles fired by US drones rained on suspected militant targets in North Waziristan on Thursday, killed at least 21 people.
According to sources, six people were killed and two others injured when two missiles slammed into a compound in the village of Spilga near Miramshah. The identities of the persons who died could not be ascertained.
Hours later, another drone attacked a moving vehicle on the Zekerkhel-Khaisur road in Mirali tehsil.
The New America Foundation think-tank in Washington says drone strikes in Pakistan have killed between 1,715 and 2,680 people over the past eight years. According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in the tribal belt in 2009, 101 in 2010 and 64 last year.
Also, according to a report released by the Conflict Monitoring Center in January, at least 609 people were killed as a result of 75 drone strikes in Pakistan in 2011 alone. The group has documented 303 drone strikes since 2004, with a total death toll of at least 2,661.
Despite US claims of using drone strikes to combat Taliban, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said in a recent television interview that drone strikes were counter-productive as it often caused civilian casualties. He had also made it clear that his government had not given permission for drone strikes inside Pakistan as it violated the country's sovereignty.
President Barack Obama in January confirmed for the first time that US drones attacked Taliban and al-Qaeda militants on Pakistani soil.
Source: news agencies, edited by moqawama.org
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