A Pakistani boy holds a banner at a demonstration against US-led assassination drone strikes. (File photo)
Pakistan has strongly condemned the latest US assassination drone strike that killed several people in the countryâ„¢s North Waziristan tribal area.
On Monday, Pakistani Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying, Å“These unilateral strikes are a violation of Pakistanâ„¢s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” adding that Å“such strikes also set dangerous precedents in inter-state relations. Pakistan has repeatedly emphasized the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes.”
On Saturday, a US assassination drone fired two missiles – one into a compound and another at a motorcycle with two people riding it – in the village of Mossaki outside of Mir Ali, one of the main towns in North Waziristan, killing three people.
The raid was the second drone strike in Pakistan this month.
On July 3, a unit of unmanned US aircraft fired four missiles at a house in the Sarai Darpa Khel area of North Waziristan, killing 17 people.
The United States says the CIA-run drone strikes primarily kill Taliban militants, who threaten the US-led international forces in neighboring Afghanistan, although casualty figures show that Pakistani civilians are often the main victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.
The slaughter of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in US drone strikes has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, and Pakistani officials have complained to the US administration on numerous occasions.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said that the drone strikes are Å“simply unacceptable” and has asked Washington to end the attacks on Pakistanâ„¢s tribal areas.
In September 2012, a report by the Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law gave an alarming account of the effect that assassination drone strikes have on ordinary people in Pakistanâ„¢s tribal areas.
Å“The number of Ëœhigh-levelâ„¢ targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low — estimated at just 2 percent,” the report noted.
MAM/HJL
Republished with permission from: Press TV