Drone strikes: PTI accuses govt of complicity with US
The strikes are “illegal under international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty” Dr Shireen Mazari said
ISLAMABAD:
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has chided the United States for carrying out a drone strike in the country’s tribal areas on Wednesday and accused Islamabad of complicity in the latest attack. The strikes are “illegal under international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”, the party’s central information secretary Dr Shireen Mazari said on Thursday. She also accused the government of being complicit in the decision to carry out strikes, saying any collusion is ‘shameful’. She demanded that the prime minister explain why there has been no official statement calling for an end to the strikes. “The government’s total lack of concern for the innocent civilians of Fata is reflected in its casual attitude towards drone killings and the failure to have a proper humanitarian structure in place for the massive flow of IDPs from North Waziristan,” she said. She also criticised the government for keeping the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government in the dark about the military operation even as ‘K-P is bearing the brunt of the fallout of the operation’. The commencement of an operation before a proper civilian evacuation is ‘callous’, she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2014.
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has chided the United States for carrying out a drone strike in the country’s tribal areas on Wednesday and accused Islamabad of complicity in the latest attack. The strikes are “illegal under international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty”, the party’s central information secretary Dr Shireen Mazari said on Thursday. She also accused the government of being complicit in the decision to carry out strikes, saying any collusion is ‘shameful’. She demanded that the prime minister explain why there has been no official statement calling for an end to the strikes. “The government’s total lack of concern for the innocent civilians of Fata is reflected in its casual attitude towards drone killings and the failure to have a proper humanitarian structure in place for the massive flow of IDPs from North Waziristan,” she said. She also criticised the government for keeping the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government in the dark about the military operation even as ‘K-P is bearing the brunt of the fallout of the operation’. The commencement of an operation before a proper civilian evacuation is ‘callous’, she added.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2014.