Drone strikes: K-P govt to protest outside US Embassy, UN office

Says the sovereignty of the state needs to be upheld in the face of such violations.

PESHAWAR: Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Minister of Local Government and Rural Development Inayatullah Khan said on Friday that Pakistan needed to take a united stance against drone strikes carried out by US. The provincial government has also decided to protest against the strike in front of the US embassy and United Nations office in Islamabad.

"We will have to make decisions like an independent nation," he said, adding that as a sovereign state, any threats to the country's integrity should be fought against.

The provincial information minister Shah Farman told the press that Pakistan is more capable of facing its enemies than it was in 1947.

"What if China and India carry out similar strikes in Pakistan tomorrow? Would we also not fight them saying that they are a superpower," Khan questioned.

"We have to come up with a joint strategy. Another All Parties' Conference needs to be called to establish consensus on the issue," he said.

“A day ahead of the strike, advisor to Prime Minister Sartaj Aziz had assured that US will not carry out drone attacks during the peace talks but this was the first drone to have hit a settled area in the province," Farman said.

A drone strike in a seminary in Hangu killed six people including a commander of Haqqani network.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will also hold an anti-drone protest at the South by-pass Ring Road in Peshawar at 11am on Saturday morning. Senior PTI leaders are expected to participate in the demonstration which will ask for the NATO supply to Afghanistan to be blocked if drone strikes are not stopped.