It was back to business as usual for the U.S. in Pakistan on Friday after Monday morning's big catch. An unmanned Predator aircraft operated by the CIA fired missiles into a building in the North Waziristan area of Pakistan, reportedly killing nearly a dozen terrorists including some foreigners.
This is the first time in a month-and-a-half that the U.S. drones have struck at Datta Khel, which has been pounded several times over the past year. The last drone strike on Datta Khel on March 17 apparently killed several tribal elders, resulting in Pakistan lodging a strong protest with the U.S. and deciding to absent itself from a trilateral meeting on Afghanistan later that month.
Contentious issue
Drone strikes have increasingly become a contentious issue in U.S.-Pakistan relations with Islamabad recently describing them as a “core irritant” in the bilateral relationship. On Thursday, while briefing media on matters relating to the U.S. operation that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Pakistani soil on Monday, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir had repeated his country's position on drone attacks violating sovereignty.
While maintaining that relations were on course with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton scheduled to visit Islamabad later this month and Special Envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman in Islamabad on a scheduled visit within hours of Osama's killing, Mr. Bashir reiterated this cooperation is based on certain parameters or red lines and those lines need to be respected.
The Datta Khel area is said to be under the control of Taliban commander Hafiz Gul Bahadar, who reportedly provides shelter to top al-Qaeda operatives and terrorists from across the region. The Haqqani network — against which the U.S. wants Pakistan to take action — also has its base in the region but Islamabad has resisted Washington's pressure till date on the premise that it cannot open too many fronts against terrorists at the same time.
Lurking fear
The unilateral operation of the U.S. against Osama has raised concerns within Pakistan about the Americans repeating this elsewhere in the country, especially in North Waziristan, as the date for beginning troop withdrawal from Afghanistan draws nigh. In view of this lurking fear — especially with a White House official saying the U.S. would conduct similar operations again in Pakistan if necessary — the Pakistan Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Thursday said level of military/intelligence cooperation with Washington would warrant a review if the country's sovereignty was violated again.
