Drone activist ‘grilled, tortured’

Karim’s brother and teenage son were killed in a drone attack in Mir Ali, North Waziristan in December 2009.

ISLAMABAD: A drone activist who was freed by his captors late Thursday told reporters that he was interrogated and tortured.

Karim Khan was picked up from his residence in Rawalpindi on February 5 by some 20 men, just days before he was scheduled to leave for a two-week visit to Europe to testify before EU parliamentarians about the US-sponsored drone attacks. The armed dropped him off near Tarnol, Islamabad, on Thursday night.

“I had moved my family to Islamabad from North Waziristan last month so that they could be safe but we are not safe here,” he told reporters of his ordeal on Friday.

“Some armed men in police clothes and plain civil uniform came to my house after midnight and took me with them. They tortured me. They punched me on the head beat me with a stick,” he said.

“He was questioned about names and people in Waziristan. He was questioned about his drone work and was told not to speak to media, otherwise they will come back for them,” his lawyer said. Karim’s brother and teenage son were killed in a drone attack in their native town, Mir Ali, North Waziristan in December 2009.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 15^th, 2014.