More Drones More submissive Pakistani Government
A suspected US missile strike killed at least four militants in a tribal region of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, officials said Thursday.The strike took place in the Essokhel area, around 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of Mir Ali town in the North Waziristan tribal region, early Thursday morning. Confirming the strike, another official said the nationality of those killed in the strike was not immediately known.
Yesterday a missile strike launched by a U.S. drone aircraft has killed at least seven militants, including six foreigners, in a tribal region of northwest Pakistan, intelligence officials and Taliban sources said. The strike occurred in Makeen, an area of South Waziristan known as a stronghold of Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud.
U.S. drones have carried out more than 30 strikes since early 2008 when the United States, frustrated by an intensifying Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan getting support from the Pakistani side of the border, began attacking with greater frequency. Last week, the New York Times reported that the Obama administration was considering broadening its covert strike in Pakistan’s southwestern Baluchistan province bordering Afghanistan.
Meanwhile Wall Street Journal has reported that Washington is planning new drone attacks on militant targets in Pakistan as part of its overall review of military strategy there and in Afghanistan. That has raisd several question marks on the integrity of US-Pak relations. For long cooperation between the two allies has become complicated; it is generally believed by US officials that Pakistan’s top intelligence agency officials are “directly supporting the Taliban and other militants in Afghanistan, even as the US target”
Government Reaction
Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira commented on terrorism as government’s three pronged strategy to deal with terrorism is gaining support at home and abroad. While talking to a private TV channel, he said that PPP-led coalition government has been condemning the US drones attacks from day one because they were not achieving positive results. The drone attacks were promoting hatred against US, he said and added Pakistan government has also been facing domestic criticism in this regard. He said the government is endevouring to convince its partners in war on terror that drones attacks were not yielding the desired results, rather they were further complicating the situation.
Input from Agencies
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