Pakistan calls for end to US deadly drone strikes
28 Sep MAM
Pakistan has called for an immediate end to Washington deadly drone
strikes on the Pakistani soil.Sartaj Aziz, chief adviser to Pakistani
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on national security and foreign affairs,
said in his speech at the United Nations Security Council in New York
that the strikes violated international law including international
humanitarian law.
He also described the strikes as counter-productive, saying attacks
carried out by the CIA-operated drones have led to casualties of
civilians, including women and children, in Pakistan tribal areas. The
Islamabad government has repeatedly protested against US drone strikes,
saying they violate Pakistan's sovereignty.
Pakistani prime minister recently blasted the aerial assaults in his
country, describing them as a violation of the international law and the
United Nations Charter. Washington claims its drone strikes target
militants, although casualty figures show that Pakistani civilians are
often the victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks. The United States
often uses its assassination drones to hit targets in Pakistan and some
other countries including Yemen and Afghanistan.In May, US President
Barack Obama defended the use of the controversial drones as
self-defense.
The airstrikes, initiated under former US President George W. Bush,
have been escalated under the Obama administration. The United Nations
says the US-operated drone strikes in Pakistan pose a growing challenge
to the international rule of law.
Philip Alston, UN special envoy on extrajudicial killings, said in a
report in late October 2010 that the attacks were undermining the rules
designed to protect the right of life. Alston went on to say that he
fears the drone killings by the US Central Intelligence Agency could
develop a “Playstation” mentality.
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