NORTH WAZIRISTAN: The Foreign Office of Pakistan has strongly condemned the drone attack in North Waziristan which killed 10 people on Saturday.
In a statement, Foreign Office spokesperson Moazzam Ahmed Khan said, “Pakistan has consistently maintained that these illegal attacks are 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.”
At least 10 people were killed while one was injured when an unmanned aerial drone attacked a house in Darr-e-Nishtar, North Waziristan, early on Saturday morning.
According to details the US drone fired four missiles on the house in the Shawal valley in a pre-dawn attack. The death toll is also expected to rise.
Rescue officials cited the presence of at least four drones in the skies overhead, fearing which rescue efforts had been delayed.
Late last month, a drone strike in North Waziristan killed four suspected militants and injured three others while destroying a girls school.
The attack had drawn widespread criticism from Pakistan, which chose to lodge a formal complaint with the US over the attack, the Foreign Office summoned the US Political Councillor in Islamabad.
The political setup also criticised the attack, with Senator Raza Rabbani declaring that the US had to start respecting Pakistan’s red lines.
COMMENTS (80)
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@Moise: Is Pakistan's Judiciary capable of convicting the very criminals causing mayham and slaughter of innocent in towns and cities of Pakistan?
@Hedgefunder: Killing without any trial is murder. Do you support murder?
The answer to this is not & will never be military operations. What has the mighty US achieved with its most superior fire power, sophisticated intelligence gathering & other military muscle. Zilch!! Now they are talking to Mulla Omar (once the most wanted terrorist after OBL) & his Taliban. It suddenly dawned on them that they cannot win this war. But we are cheap blood & our foot soldiers will continue to die long after they leave.
There is a famous saying which goes like this :- "You can not be ridiculed more than you permit". But one thing must be very clearly remembered by the decision makers in Pakistan, that now since you have allowed the US to enter in your home, you can never restrict the US to the areas of your choice.
Today USA is bombing FATA, tomorrow they will bomb our vital installations with drones, with the same excuse they used against Iraq, saying that the Pakistani WMD's were a security risk for the world. So, wake up Pakistani rulers, still you have time to nip the evil in the bud, lest it may be too late.
@elementary: "Shooting down is unnecesary. If Pakistan govt really wanted to stop drones .It could deny the use of bases ,not provide the intelligence"
The bases have already been denied. Drones have not stopped. Pak government has never provided intelligence about Haqqanis and Afghan Taliban, so it cannot be stopped when it was never started. This intelligence is received by people in FATA who feel oppressed by Afghan Taliban and Haqqanis. Imran used to also say that when supply routes are stopped in retaliation, drones wil stop. That has not happened either.
@ babloo , I think even the elementry of Carrot stick policy is not clear to some peoole .
As a protest against drones, I am removing my beard nowitself. I request all Pak brothers to do the same so that our government can see the seriousness of the issue.
The Foreign Office of Pakistan has strongly condemned the drone attack in North Waziristan which killed 10 people on Saturday. What a joke!!!!
Some one has said that Drone has no intelligence to distinguise brtween beared mulla and millitants . I think he is absolutly correct and hence I would like to advice all patriotic pakistani to cut down their mare as it has nothing to do with religion . Look at your leaders . They are religious as well as handsome without a beared face .
@Chrome, Good advice to Pakistan and her public .
@Waris: The whole point is that the USA should not need to catch them - Pakistan should catch them because they are in our country. But instead of catching them we shower them with rose petals and buy them villas in Abbotabad. Therefore Uncle Sam blasts them with drones!.
@Waris: When you kill some body without due process of law. his relatives or some body, whose relatives have been killed are very likely to go and sympathize terrorists. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Balochistan is the best example where young Baloch have been systematically abducted, tortured and their bullet ridden mutilated bodies dumped on remote roads to be eaten by wild animals. These innocents were never afforded any "due process of law" by the agencies.
The CJP is hitting his head since last 5 years with very little success to help those innocent victims.
US to demand apology from Pakistan for supporting Haqanni network. US to demand seperate apology from Pakistam for supporting LeT militants. US to demand seperate apology from Pakidstan for stopping NATO routes. US to demand apology from Pakistan for housing and sheltering Osama Bin Laden. It can go on and on..
@Babloo: Shooting down is unnecesary. If Pakistan govt really wanted to stop drones .It could deny the use of bases ,not provide the intelligence , protest formally to UN or any combination of these. Pakistan Govt does not have poitical will to do it, it only keeps protesting to fool their public.
@Pollack: It's a two way war my friend .They can't shoot down the drone but can retaliate with suicide bomb in our cities. So long as this war is to continue we can not hope to interest any investor. And you can not and are not winning the war with drone strikes alone.
@AMK: "We call ourselves Superpower." Are you delusional or just plane ignorant!
A battle without a goal,military strike without a defined objecive a completely aimless war.
Untill all militants are wiped out??? Does any body know how many are out there? do we have any evidence about the impact of these strikes?.since the start and 700 drone strikes later have we reduced the number of militants by any significant number??.
A Report "The Impact of U.S. Drone Strikes on Terrorism in Pakistan Patrick B. Johnston. Anoop Sarbahi February 25, 2012" concluded "Finally, it is important to reiterate that any reduction in terrorist activity associated with the drone campaign appears modest in scope.To the extent drone strikes work, their effectiveness is more likely to lie in disrupting militant operations at the tactical level than as a silver bullet that will reverse the course of the war and singlehandedly defeat al Qaeda".
Is it not spurring more recruitment ,with thousands of madrasahs churning out tens of thousands more of these more into system do we seriously think we are reducing the radicalizatin and militancy?. It is a tunnel visioned unipronged policy without clarity of purpose, although it does provide sadistic pleasure to many of our commentators here.
lol. US has already replied. F O! hahhaaaa
Pakistan rather than crying hoarse against the drone attacks should instead be asking US to extend their services against TTP as well, who are based in Afghanistan and killing innocent civilians and security forces in Pakistan.
**Contrary to what some may say, I would say that Drone attacks save more innocent lives than they take out. Look at it realistically. There may be collateral damages. But why these innocents were so close to the terrorists in the first place. They have either been willing supporters or been coerced to act as human shields for the terrorists. As the Drone attacks continue, these innocents shall move away from the terrorists as they would know that they shall definitely get killed along with the terrorists if they stay closer to the terrorists. Then the collateral damages shall decrease and stop altogether. This change can come very quickly if Pakistan stops shedding crocodile tears and start to openly support the Drone attacks. In fact, Pakistan should also allow unrestricted military action by NATO and US forces inside Pakistan territory, whether it is with Drones or Boots on the Ground. This is going to happen any way, even if Pakistan does not want it.
Another blunder in Pakistan's thinking is that it is living (as it always) in the past. Yes, during the Bush era US was not that much liked . Obama has completely turned the situation and the entire World fully and enthusiastically supports US action inside Pakistan, whatever it may be. **
Now of course Imran Khan cannot angrily demand that Pakistan stops the supply routes because they are already stopped. So he has stopped talking about drones even though they are continuing. Because now the only thing that Pakistan CAN Do is to shoot the drones down. I don't think he is willing to defy US so openly . After all, it could impact his visa to come to US every few months. So we see a sudden ominous silence on this issue by Imran and PTI.
@yaz: "Majority getting killed by these strikes are innocent including women & children. Dont take ‘their’ word for it. They have lied before & are lying now."
Ok. So we don't believe them. Their intelligence is faulty. Mind telling us why we should believe your assertion that the drones are killing innocents. Who is gathering intelligence for you and what is their methodology. Please give us some more details. The world is yearning for accurate information stemming from an accurate methodology to determine the effectiveness of these drone strikes. Maybe if US gets that, they would rethink the usage of drones as a strategy.
The PAF is scared to shoot drones , because the drones may shoot the PAF plane down. Then where will they hide the remaining PAF planes ? There is a reason why Pakistan dare not shoot the drones. USA knows it. Pakistan knows it.
@yaz Local people should stop sheltering terrorists. All problems will be solved.
@Chulbul Pandey: How do you know they use civilians as human shield.Or you can make up anything that suits your stance.
@AMK: who calls u superpower..???????
@How How do you know the civilians are sheltering terrorists? Which independent media confirmed that? Its off limits to all media. So information can only be gathered by local people when they come to settled areas. And they have horror stories to tell. Its ten civilians to one terrorist killed. Its heavy 'collateral damage' if you want to use this ugly term.
@elementary: ": There is absolutely no impact on our economy, we achieve an economic landmark with every drone strike"
I seriously doubt if investors interested in Pakistan are deterred by drone strikes happening in Pakistan. The drone strikes are happening only in specific areas away from areas known to be places for investment. There is a case to be made that drone strikes would be welcomed by investors since they would have the confidence that someone is doing something about the bad guys. Remember the time when some of these drone magnet types launched a invasion of a major Pakistan city?
In Bajaur Muslims killed 29 other Muslims. USA can never catch up.
I personally support drone attacks on TTP. They have killed dozens of innocent people just a day earlier in Bajuar.
With all this condemnation, bravado and denial, Pakistanis are torturing themselves. Crying and moaning about how unfair the US is will get you absolutely nothing. The US can be fair to Pakistanis and others only after safeguarding the security of the US. Pakistan has 3 choices here: 1-- Cut all relationship with USA, close the US embassy and join the elite club of North Korea and Iran. 2-- Continue the existing setup. Do nothing and let the US bombard the terrorist bases. But the international community may no longer except this option very soon. 3-- Cooperate with the US and the rest of the world. Forget global jihad. Uproot all terrorist bases completely with no exception.
Choose carefully and rationally. Just be careful when considering Iran's defiance; Iran has oil and you don't.
@Moise: Could not have put it better ! Its time to shut up and let Uncle Sam deal with these Hyenas created and sheltered by the Army, State and other elements in their flawed wisdom called Foreign Policy ! As its obvious that none of the institutions are capable of dealing with mess ! Let's face it they can not even deal with small area of Karachi, let alone handle international matters of great importance to the region !
@Waris In Pakistan 400 terrorists escape Bannu jail in daylight. Drones are needed to deal with terrorists in this banana republic.
The pact is still there. "We will keep complaining, you keep bombing people".
Instead of F................complaining shoot the God damn drone and then complain. This complaining is hoodwinking the Pakistanis.It is as simple as that.
Pakhtuns have become sick Establishment's games on our land. Drone should be extended to other parts of tribal area.
@AKM: I don't think many call you a "Super Power," even among yourselves. True, you have nukes, reportedly even more than India now (congratuations! sarcasm), but you are also #12 on the failed state index - and watch how fast Pakistan will climb that list if International Aid (in all its forms) finally catches on to the "fear game" Pakistan has played since its existence. Pakistan came into existence based on fear, "Islam in Danger;" allowed the Army to take over your country based on the fear of India; milked the US to build your beloved Army even stronger during the Cold War based on the West's fear of communism, and now Pakistan stands in front of the whole world with a double-barreled gun to its head (nukes and terrorists) and threatens to shoot itself unless the world bails it out (see IMF, foreign aid, etc.). Of course all this aid goes right to Pakistan's elites - and the people of Pakistan don't see a thing - except the tragic symptoms of this game every day on your streets - while the rest of us read the headlines from afar and shake our head.
So, development of tactical nukes (Pak's next plan) will be celebrated. You will beat your chest in pride. The rest of us will cry a tear - and buy things made in India.
@Waris: Just look at what you have written. What kind of mercy do you want to initiate to snakes that kill innocents? Sensible people like Mirza are what is needed. Good Job USA for eliminating the terrorists. Every citizen of Pakistan owes USA tons of money for this cleaning job!
@yaz, the answer to ur question is yes. When there r more drone attacks the terrorists r busy there rather then attacking our cities. And while no system is perfect, the drones r much more accurate then our army operations where lots of collateral damage n population exodus occurs.
So who is stopping PAF, shoot down these drones and protect sovereignty. I think there is enough nod and wink by Pakistan to America to continue with this. These protests are fake and meant for public consumption.
Pakistan has played all its cards. So now which NATO route are they going to close ? USA still has many cards to play. It can block all financial asistance through WB and IMF and impose economic sanctions in response to NATO route stoppage. If USA chose to react that way, Pakistan will be pleading to USA to re-open NATO routes and Pakistan may be forced to offer an apology for closing them in the 1st place. Watch out.
So basically the peace-loving people have a ball when they hear INNOCENT people have been killed and a school demolished. Way to go.
@Waris: When you kill some body without due process of law. his relatives or some body, whose relatives have been killed are very likely to go and sympathize terrorists. Mr. Waris, you are so concerned about "due process of law" not being followed in drones killing terrorists. You may have a point here. However, it has been reported numerous times that these terrorists use civilians as human shields and their houses as hide-out places. This makes them more responsible for civilian casualties in case of an attack. Besides, your own Pakistani Govt. has absolutely zero control on these areas. How do you propose one applies "due process of law" there?
What sovereignty? Didn’t foreign terrorists violate that eons ago? Didn’t OBL and his wives violate it by living in Pakistan for many years without proper papers? By the way OBL’s children born Pakistan may claim citizenship in land of the pure!
The FO office and the government looks silly No one is going to listen until Pakistani government takes action to eradicate terrorism and stop sheltering and allowing them to operate freely in the country.
@Pollack: There is absolutely no impact on our economy, we achieve an economic landmark with every drone strike,at this rate we will soon be economic giant of the region.Hooray.! I am so excited.
Strategic disadvantage of these attacks far outweigh their tactical advantage. I can understand indian supporting these strikes as it serves them well or someone not living in pakistan,.But a pakistani citizen directly bears the brunt and can not support the drones.
Why no out rage, no official fire spitting on " Tribesmen in Bajaur on Saturday buried the victims of a deadly suicide attack as the death toll rose to 29," Thousands of innocents are being butchered by terrorists in Pakistan challenging the state but not a whimper. The state is debating good terrorists versus bad terrorists. And when real terrorists are blasted by drone attack every body is trying to jump higher than the other in protests. why why why
Instead of making so much of noise ... why dosent Pakistan shoot down the drone ??? Do they have the guts to do so ???.. They have tried to Blackmail USA on Nuclear issue ... and now the NATO route .. You have got the answer where you all stand on those matters after this drone strike ...
Our Army, FC, Police and Rangers could not clear a small area like Lyari in the heart of the city leave alone fighting in the mountains. US is doing a favour to Pakistan so that in near future, our armed forces can enter these trouble areas with confidence. Majority of Pakistanis favour drone strikes than our army fight and get killed which is daily news nowadays. Even after one month, our army could not retrieve even a single dead body of our soldiers in Siachen.
@thomas I am not sure if the attacks are killing terrorists but i am sure they are creating more every day. And that does not include the of the people flying them over a cup of coffee. They are extra judicial killings, full stop.
My hart bleed for for the innocent killed by the drone attack. But there is no way out, terrorists live in FATA take turns for kidnapping for ransom and bombing innocent Pakistanis. God bless Americans for attacking them with drones. It is unfortunate some innocents also die. Terrorists are responsible for the death of innocents. I pray American to stay in Afghanistan keep drone attach daily to kill enemy of Pakistan. because our government is impotent
Unless any one here can come up with a better plan against the militants , most sensible people will support drone strikes. What else will you do against a well equipped and well trained ,or brainwashed ,(thanks to our oil rich masters), enemy who has no remorse or guilt and very little rational basis for its ongoing war against poor pakistanis. Some money for finance also comes through honourable local customs of extortion and kidnapping.
Just one question for the " collateral damage" argument supporters. Who dies when these monsters bomb masjids, marketplaces, train stations?? is that not "collateral damage"? (as their claim is that they are attacking the organs of the state, not neccesarily its people). Do you see them getting all teary eyed about the young father of five who goes out to buy bread for his family or the young jawans and school kids who perish in these terrible attacks.
All persons who encourage fund and plan these attacks should be dealt with very harshly.
Its painful, Contrary to other comments I would rather Say that Drone Strikes are absolutely wrong. Although I am an Indian but still I say that this way of eliminating terrorists is wrong. This is a full fledged war against Pakistan and violation of Pakistani territory and Pak govt & armed forces are just sitting like a mouse(Rat). its better that US strikes by its armed forces in troubled area with their army. Atleast innocents wont be attacked and only terrorists will get killed. But this is not going to happen because it will lead to american force casualities. I am commenting this inspite of fact that I am Hindu and Indian, but I am against innocent casualities of any religion. Yes terrorists should be eliminated but not at cost of casualities of innocent people.
America is mindlessly keep on violating Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity through despicable drone attacks on the Waziristan region of Pakistan.While the Americans under the direction of Barack Obama are committing these crimes Pakistani government is helpless to do anything to stop this carnage.Barack Obama wants to show the American people that he is doing something concrete in Afghanistan to win their votes.The people of the United States should be shown the bodies of the dead civilians and the pitiable conditions of the people there consequential to drone attacks.And ask whether they are going to vote for Obama in appreciation of this carnage.
@yaz: Knowing that I am a terrorist, would you put me up in your house and say that you are a innocent civilian?
Tough this could had been a joint operation, still it worth every penny. Most in Pakistan support the ultimate objective being achieved by the drone operation, as we are sick and tired of our leadership and law-enforcement agencies, they have failed to get our country clear of terrorist safe heavens.
We have lost over 35000 precious life at hands of these terrorist, and this can not go on. We would also like US drone operation to eradicate the extremist clerics and leaders who are using poor uneducated against them-self and their country.
The key is to publicly position drone operations as a joint operation between US / Pak authorities. Hope there is a way this can be figured out.
Drones are precise weopons of destruction for these terrorists and its Gods will that they are getting killed through this mean.
The Americans are doing Pakistanis a favor by getting rid of dangerous undesirables. Pakistan owes the US big time! The American tax payer is paying for all the money spent on drones.
Thanks to our 'allies'. We love you, we even love your bombs to kill us. Bomb us and do it day and night!
@sharjeel: I suspect you live on moon or some other planet. When you kill some body without due process of law. his relatives or some body, whose relatives have been killed are very likely to go and sympathize terrorists.
@Waris: Can Pakistan afford the costs of securing these people in Jails that are locked???? Why bother with judicial process, when not a single terrorist has been convicted in Pakistan as yet !!!!!
To all those who think drone strikes kill potential terrorists & suicide bombers, one question. As the intensity of drone strikes increased in the recent past, has there been a reduction in terror attcaks? Has Pakistan become a safer place? Hell fire drone bombs have no particular intelligence. It cant distinguish between a bearded Imam of a mosque & a terrorist. Their human intelligence gathering methods on the ground are faulty & imperfect. Can we kill all terrorists? Majority getting killed by these strikes are innocent including women & children. Dont take 'their' word for it. They have lied before & are lying now.
The mighty Ababeels are at work once again !!! Soon we'll see a five-time-a-day headbanging in the direction of these drones and the emergence of a mass conversion to a newer religion/theocracy called DroneSlam occurring in the Land of the Pure !!!
@Waris: What are you talking about? That's exactly how the law works inside Pakistan. They're following your own customs. and no, the US is not fully capable of capturing them and prosecuting them in a court of law under the current circumstances. That requires boots on the ground inside Pakistan. Though I bet if you allow that the drones would be put on the sideline. I'm not too sure how the sovereignty tantrums will look after that one, though. and before anyone says it: yes, boots on the ground and drones are extremely different when it comes to the international laws that Pakistan seems to translate just as accurately as the border specifications for Siachen.
A great regards form America to Pakistan in favor of NATO Supply....... Sham on us This is our Foreign Policy.
@Waris: The world is losing patience with terrorists - so expect no outcry from anybody except Pakistanis over the drone attacks. Innocents (and sometimes not so innocents) get killed in fighting terrorism. And they will continue to get killed till this menace of terrorism is over. The world has decided to call it collateral damage, and live with it. Collateral damage - it happened in Sri Lanka, it happened in Afghanistan, it happened in Kashmir, it happened everywhere there was ever a war, and it will happen wherever there is a terrorist hiding. Innocents have to learn to do better than harboring the terrorists or even sympathizing with them. It is in their own interests.
Where id difa e pakistan. these people r just like our plliticians just big mouth
A drone could kill a potential suicide bomber and his trainers and providers. A suicide bomber cannot possibly even touch a drone. Sovereignty or no sovereignty, a drone is any day a better tool to avoid suicide bombings and terror attack incidents in the future.
@Mirza: I am sorry to hear your illogical comments, no matter how much admiration you get from mummy daddy readers living in peaceful defense societies of Lahore or Karachi. The whole point is that no body in the world can assume the role of being the police, the prosecutor, judge and executor at the same time. Drone attacks are like " Jali Police Muqabala" instituted by Punjab police. I am not in any way favoring suspected militants. I think US is fully capable of capturing them and prosecuting them in a court of law but sadly it has chosen a short cut, which in turn results in killing of civilians or non combatants and results in production of more terrorists.
These American actions are cementing ties with Pakistan(always heard from Washington spoke person) after every attack or a failed meeting, to which direction,only USA knows.Best thing is that they want to stay in Afghanistan for an other ten years after 2014.I don't know which sense will accept that approach of USA in this region.
Good shot!
"Late last month, a drone strike in North Waziristan killed four suspected militants and injured three others while destroying a girls school." Why is the fact that those militants force those schools to shut down and then use them for cover not mentioned? More entertaining reactions?
good job,no mercy should be shown for terrorists.
I guess these guys didn't read OBL letters which advised the terrorists to flee N Waziristan to avoid the drones. Maybe they thought the USA was going to cave into Pakistani pressure to stop the drone attacks?
Just the news to cheer me up. Drones should keep blasting terrorists.
And yet we call our self Super Power...shame on us we cant even safe lives of our people
USA deploys remote controlled Drones to attack Pakistan territory while Pakistan remotely controls Afghan Talibans thru Haqqani network to attack Afghanistan territory.
The news says "The attack had drawn widespread criticism from Pakistan, which chose to lodge a formal complaint with the US over the attack"
Why is there no such outrage by the rightwing politicians and their followers when these terrorists kill dozens of Pakistani civilians every other day? The biggest and most effective argument of the west is that when even a cartoon appears or something bad is written, there are riots and total outrage against that. However, when 3000 US civilians were brutally murdered and Pakistanis are slaughtered by the terrorists there is no such outrage. Yet we call ourselves peace loving! Even this news item would be discussed and condemned but there is not much from our rightwing parties when dozens of Pakistanis are murdered. The US and NATO forces are doing an admirable job of putting the fear of God in the terrorists. If they continue their despicable acts against Pakistani civilians they have no place to hide. OBL’s death confirms that.
Great way to eliminate Pakistani terrorists.!!!!!!!!!!!!!