WASHINGTON – Special US Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Ambassador Marc Grossman has expressed regrets over civilian casualties in Pakistan and thus took the first step to pave the way for resolving disagreement between the two allies after a drone strike in North Waziristan on March 17 killed several tribal elders.
Grossman insisted that the object of the US mission in Afghanistan and its cooperation with Pakistan was “protecting people and improving their lives,” and “when civilians are killed, we regret it. We deeply regret it.”
Grossman was speaking during a panel at the Brussels Forum entitled, ‘Bridging the Trust Deficit with Pakistan,’ along with UK Defense Secretary Liam Fox and journalist Ahmed Rashid.Ambassador Grossman was asked about the civilian casualties from drone strikes by Steve Erlanger of the New York Times.
He stressed that he could not go into specific operations, reflecting US policy of avoiding public discussion of drone strikes. “I can’t discuss all the aspects of every bit of this cooperation,” he said about US-Pakistan partnership along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
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