The CIA-operated drones pounded suspected terrorist hideouts in Pakistan's tribal agencies for the third consecutive day on Monday killing over a dozen terrorists in North Waziristan which is said to be a strong hold of the Afghan Taliban.
This was the eighth drone attack in a fortnight and drew a response from the Foreign Office.
In a statement, the Foreign Office pointed out that Pakistan had consistently maintained that these illegal attacks were a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and are in contravention of international law. “It is our considered view that the strategic disadvantages of such attacks far outweigh their tactical advantages, and are therefore, totally counterproductive.''
The number of people killed in each drone attack is always a matter of conjecture because the terrorists usually cordon off the area and the locals are not allowed access to the place. With the tribal areas off-limits for journalists, information is often sketchy and unverified.
The dominant narrative in the country is against drone attacks though WikiLeaks has shown that both the civil and military leadership favours it in private and the anti-drone stance is primarily for public consumption.
Keywords: AfPak, NATO drone strikes, Afghan peace process, al-Qaeda
@Danish
Our sovereignty was seriously compromised in April 2008 when over 200 American drones jammed the radars of our national political intellect and barged into our parliament. In the upcoming elections, our media and the Western media would throw up a lot of chaff to protect these drones, hopefully five years of near starvation has sharpened the political intellect of our nation.
There are 66,000 NGOs working to throw up this chaff, all kinds of Western institutions, mostly seemingly nonpolitical like movie awards have joined the fray. I won't be surprised to see a Nobel peace prize thrown in for good measure.
This should go down as a classic in the history of reporting.
"The brother was one of those who died in the Sunday morning strike."
At the time of receiving condolences, he probably didn't know his time was coming.
Great gutsy job by Americans in dealing with militant threats.
Bigger issues are at stake than the sovereignity of pakistan. A country which cant ensure that their land is not used for anti-human activities cant ask for sovereign rights. SOmeone or other will push ahead his plans to violate its sovereign rights and indulge in corrective measures in his own interests.
This remind me of an article in Hindu "The world as its battlefield". America should stop firing on other nation ground only on the mere suspicion of terrorism. It is good that they are fighting against terrorism but the way is not appropriate. It may lead to a turbulence in world peace.
What about the sovereignity of Pakistan?
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