Drone strike in Hangu

The first-ever drone strike in a settled district, a day after an announcement of the prime minister’s adviser on foreign affairs declared the assurance of the United States that it would not carry out any drone strikes temporarily if the Pakistan government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were holding peace talks. However, the death of top ranked members of the Haqqani network, considered to be the most powerful of the militant factions in Afghanistan, days after a son of the leader of the group was gunned down in the capital city of Islamabad has raised many serious questions which are likely to go unanswered at the moment.



The drone which targeted a seminary in a village in Hangu district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) killed six people, five of whom were identified as top commanders. The men had gathered for a condolence meeting for Dr Nasiruddin Haqqani, the son of the founder of the Haqqani Network, Jalaluddin Haqqani. Drone strikes like these come after repeated US demands to Pakistan to go after the Haqqani network, and it appears that it has now decided to take on the task itself.

Condemnations of the November 21 strike have poured in from all quarters, and for the people who have witnessed a spate of endless suicide bombings and targeted attacks, this is a new dilemma. As the narratives become murkier, the question now asked is — will the drones follow the militants from the Federally Administered Tribal Area (Fata) to the more urbanised localities of mainstream Pakistan?

While the government grapples for answer, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), along with its coalition partners in K-P and aided by other religious parties and groups, are all set to block the routes for Nato supply as a protest against drone strikes, which is expected to attract a large number of people. But does blocking the supply mean an end to drone strikes?

The K-P Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on November 4, after the death of TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud, giving the federal government a 15-day deadline to end drone strikes or the province would decide its own course of action. Ironically, this time the target was in the jurisdiction of the same assembly.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2013.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.