Despite hostage deaths, majority of Americans still support drone strikes in Pakistan

Less than half of the respondents, 48%, said they were very concerned that strikes endanger lives of civilians

NEW YORK: Despite concerns surrounding collateral damage and wrongly identified targets being struck, which resulted in the deaths of two hostages, nearly 60 per cent of Americans still approve drone strikes on extremists in Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen, a new poll found Thursday.

The Pew Research Center said its national survey showed that 58 per cent of Americans approve of drone strikes against extremists in those countries with only 35 per cent expressing their disapproval.

Support for drone strikes exists across party lines. Republicans, at 74 per cent, are more likely than Democrats, at 52 per cent, to favor the use of drones to target extremists, the poll found.

Just under half of the respondents, 48 per cent, said they were very concerned that drone strikes endanger the lives of innocent civilians, while 32 per cent said they were somewhat concerned.

Only three in 10 Americans said they were very concerned that US strikes could lead to retaliation from extremist groups and only 24 per cent said the strikes could damage America's reputation.

Less than a third -- 29 per cent -- said they were very concerned about whether the strikes were legal.

The survey was carried out between May 12-18 based on telephone interviews with around 2,000 adults living in all 50 US states and the capital Washington. It has a margin of error of 2.5 per cent.

Earlier this year, US President Barack Obama admitted that CIA operated drones had killed two hostages, US citizen Warren Weinstein and Italian aid worker Giovanni Lo Porto, while attempting to target an al Qaeda hideout in Pakistan in January.

President Barack Obama's admission that the strike inadvertently killed the hostages raised fresh questions in America about the limits and risks of the classified, targeted killing program.

Since taking office in 2009, Obama has relied heavily on drone raids to hunt down al Qaeda leaders and other extremists from Pakistan's tribal areas to Somalia and Yemen.

Human rights groups and some lawmakers question the legality and the morality of the drone war, citing estimates that hundreds of civilians may have been killed by the strikes.