Pakistani politician Imran Khan says Islamabad must take the issue of US terror drone strikes to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
œOne important step that the federal government must take is its commitment to take the drone issue to the UN Security Council without any further delay,” said Khan who heads Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (Pakistan Movement for Justice or PTI) on Friday.
Referring to a move by Pakistani officials to start peace talks with militants, he added that œThe PTI believes in dialogue to give peace a chance. This is the only way to identify those groups that wish dialogue for peace and isolate those elements believing in violence and terror.”
The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif embarked on a campaign to establish peace in northwestern Pakistan through negotiations with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups, who have been fighting against the government since 2007.
In his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last week, the Pakistani prime minister said the drone strikes are counter-productive and a violation of the country™s sovereignty.
The strikes cause œcasualties of innocent civilians and is detrimental to our resolve and efforts to eliminate extremism and terrorism from Pakistan. I have urged the United States to cease these strikes, so that we could avert further casualties and suffering,” Sharif said.
Washington 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 victims of the non-UN-sanctioned attacks.
According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the United States™ drone strikes in Pakistan have killed up to 3,596 people since 2004.
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.
MAM/MAM
Copyright: Press TV