Hamid Gul condemns ‘murderous’ drone strikes

Former Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lt General (Retd) Hamid Gul on Sunday termed US led drone strikes as ‘murderous attacks’.
Hamid Gul said that US drone attacks were violation of all international laws and human rights. “These attacks on Pakistani soil must be stopped immediately,” Hamid Gul told IRNA in an interview.
The analyst added that according to American claims, 20 al-Qaeda leaders had been killed in the drone strikes whereas the total number of casualties in the attacks was 3250. “It means innocent people have been targeted in the strikes,” he noted.
“In my view, Obama is the murderer of all those innocent people who have lost their lives in drone strikes,” he said. He was of the view that these strikes were not even permitted in American laws; they were extra judicial killings. “They are part of a conspiracy to destabilize Muslim world,” Gul viewed.
Former intelligence chief while expressing his views said that the drone attacks on Pakistani soil were tantamount to state terrorism against the people of Pakistan.
“Drone strikes are sheer violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan,” he noted, adding that US did not care about the sovereignty of other countries.
He was of the view that Americans were making all out efforts to destabilize Pakistan. “Their basic objective is to target nuclear program of Pakistan,” he warned.
Former general said that the drone technology would ultimately create problems for the USA because other countries would try to acquire this technology to counter US hegemony.
Majority of Pakistanis believe that drone strikes kill innocent people, violate Pakistan’s sovereignty and are against all international laws.
Earlier Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar had said that US drone strikes on Pakistani soil were “unlawful, illegal and counterproductive.”
To bring attention of the international media on this vital issue, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf or Justice Movement had carried out a march against the US drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal regions.