US drone strikes terrorize Pakistani civilians: Report

A new report has found that the constant assassination drone strikes by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) have “terrorized” civilian population of Pakistan’s tribal areas around the clock.

Conducted by Stanford and New York universities’ law schools, based on “extensive interviews with the local population” on the controversial attacks, the study entitled Living Under Drones revealed that “US drones hover 24 hours a day over communities in north-west Pakistan, striking homes, vehicles, and public spaces without warning.”
“Their [US drones] presence terrorizes men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities. Those living under drones have to face the constant worry that a deadly strike may be fired at any moment, and the knowledge that they are powerless to protect themselves,” the American law schools report said.

Washington has been using its assassination drones in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia and claims that it is targeting terrorists, but the attacks have mostly led to massive civilian deaths.

The study further stated that besides injury or death, the strikes cause property damage, severe economic hardship and emotional trauma for the injured and their families, adding that people are frightened to attend gatherings such as funerals for fear of attacks.

The report, which is a nine-month investigation into CIA drone strikes, added that rescuers arriving at the scene to treat the casualties are also being killed and injured by second drone strikes.

In the latest US assassination drone attack, at least three people were killed and four others wounded in Pakistan’s Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal region near the Afghanistan border on Monday.

The killing of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in the strikes has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, prompting Pakistani officials to send warnings to the US administration over the assaults.

The aerial attacks were initiated by former US President George W. Bush, but have escalated under President Barack Obama.

The UN has slammed the US terror drone attacks as targeted killings and says they pose a challenge to international law.

The report was commissioned by and written with the help of London-based human rights group Reprieve, which is acting on behalf of Noor Khan, a Pakistani whose father was one of the victims of a US drone attack in March 2011.

MR/MRS/MA/JR

Source: PressTV