Protesters stage a demonstration in front of the UN headquarters in New York, demanding an end to US drone attacks in Pakistan which have killed thousands of civilians, Press TV reports.
Braving bitter cold weather, dozens of Pakistani-Americans and anti-war activists shouted �œDrones Fly, Children Die”, and carried placards saying that the remotely controlled aircraft violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan,
The demonstrators also urged President Barack Obama to stop the deadly drone campaign.
Speakers at the gathering condemned the killings of civilians especially children, by US drone attacks that they said were against international law. They called on UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to take steps to ban military drones altogether.
The protest was organized by the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum and International Action Center.
�œWe have been asking end the drones, stop the drones for years and years, [but] nobody listens. You have no chance to tell the whole world how we are suffering,” Shahid Comrade, a member of the Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, told Press TV.
US drone strikes are also causing outrage in Pakistan where thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the latest show of public anger at the attacks.
The demonstrations took place in the cities of Peshawar, Multan and Lahore on Friday. Thousands of angry protesters chanted slogans against the US, setting its flag on fire.
The protests were triggered after three people died in the latest US drone attack in Pakistan�™s tribal region in the northwest.
The US government has made hundreds of drone attacks on targets in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia since 2004.
A United Nations investigation on drones released in October said US drone strikes around the world have resulted in thousands of human deaths and may have violated international humanitarian law.
AHT/HJ
Source: Press TV