Four non-UN-sanctioned US drone strikes have claimed the lives of at least 26 people in northwestern Pakistan amid public protest. The unauthorized airstrikes took place in the Khyber Agency tribal region on Friday.
It’s the second consecutive day the US drones target the same region.
On Thursday, a US air raid claimed the lives of seven people when a missile hit a vehicle in Speen Drang area of Tirah valley in Pakistan’s Kheber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The air attacks have intensified since US President Barrack Obama took office in 2009.
US media reported that Obama had given the CIA the go-ahead to increase drone strikes in Pakistan.
Washington has claimed that the air raids were targeted at militants, but the local residents said civilians were the main victims.
Though Washington at times has claimed it has an agreement with Islamabad about such attacks, Pakistani authorities insist there has never been such a deal and that they view the airstrikes as repeated violations of the country’s sovereignty.
The unsanctioned US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region on the Afghan border have reached a crescendo.
More than 250 people have been killed in a total of 49 drone attacks the US has launched since September 3. The victims of the attacks are mostly civilians.
The missile strikes have proven “counterproductive” as large numbers of outraged residents of the border areas are beginning to support the militants, according to Pakistani officials.
“We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said in early October.
In late November, Islamabad rejected a request from Washington to expand its drone missile campaign outside the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border.
Basit said Pakistan would not allow the United States to carry out drone strikes in new areas.
On Thursday, a US air raid claimed the lives of seven people when a missile hit a vehicle in Speen Drang area of Tirah valley in Pakistan’s Kheber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
The air attacks have intensified since US President Barrack Obama took office in 2009.
US media reported that Obama had given the CIA the go-ahead to increase drone strikes in Pakistan.
Washington has claimed that the air raids were targeted at militants, but the local residents said civilians were the main victims.
Though Washington at times has claimed it has an agreement with Islamabad about such attacks, Pakistani authorities insist there has never been such a deal and that they view the airstrikes as repeated violations of the country’s sovereignty.
The unsanctioned US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region on the Afghan border have reached a crescendo.
More than 250 people have been killed in a total of 49 drone attacks the US has launched since September 3. The victims of the attacks are mostly civilians.
The missile strikes have proven “counterproductive” as large numbers of outraged residents of the border areas are beginning to support the militants, according to Pakistani officials.
“We believe that they are counter-productive and also a violation of our sovereignty,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said in early October.
In late November, Islamabad rejected a request from Washington to expand its drone missile campaign outside the lawless tribal belt along the Afghan border.
Basit said Pakistan would not allow the United States to carry out drone strikes in new areas.
Source: Press TV
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