Tag: Drone

LAHORE - Officials said a suspected US missile strike killed at least four militants in North Waziristan on Thursday. The officials said the drone strike targeted a house in the North Waziristan where Al Qaeda and Afghan Taliban militants were believed to be hiding.
Two intelligence officials said the drone fired two missiles on militant's hideout in Data Khel area.Thursday's drone strike was the eleventh this year.

PESHAWAR - A US drone strike in the lawless tribal region - the second such attack in 24 hours on the area near the Afghan border - killed five militants Monday, security officials said. The strike took place in the mountainous Spalga village, 20 kilometres south of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan, a hub of Al-Qaeda-linked militants.
"It was a US drone strike which targeted a militant compound, killing five rebels," a senior local security official told AFP,

ISLAMABAD - The United States has halted drone attacks on militants along Pakistan's western border in a development analysts believe is linked to the attempts to secure the release of a jailed US consular employee. After months of frequent strikes from unmanned US aircraft on militant hideouts in tribal areas, reports of covert strikes have gone quiet for over three weeks.
Many analysts believe Washington has stopped the attacks to avoid further inflaming anti-American fury in

PESHAWAR - Over 10,000 people held an anti-US protest in Peshawar on Sunday, calling for an immediate stop to American drone attacks in the Tribal Areas. Activists from the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) blocked a main road and staged a six-hour sit-in outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial assembly.
The demonstrators chanted anti-US slogans and carried banners and placards reading "Death for America", "Stop drone attacks in Pakistan" and "No to American interference in Pakistan". One

PESHAWAR - A large number of tribesmen on Friday staged a rally in Miranshah in a bid to force the US to end drone attacks in the tribal belt.
Chanting slogans against the US, the government and what they called pro-American politicians, the protesters reached the city from the surrounding areas in large processions. They held placards and banners inscribed with their demand for "ending drone attacks" in the Tribal Areas.
Maulvi Gul Behram, Maulana Mohammad Kalim, Haji Azmat

ISLAMABAD - The proposed multi-million-dollar deal under which the US would supply about a dozen unarmed drones to Pakistan has come across serious hurdles owing to the high price quoted by Washington and the time of delivery of the pilotless planes.
Pakistan is currently engaged in negotiations with the US to acquire 10 to 12 unarmed UAVs and each aircraft's price is about $40 million. These negotiations have been going on for months now after the offer was made by US Defence

ISLAMABAD - The foreign policy wizards in Islamabad are confident that "no one" would be allowed to turn Pakistan into a battlefield but they are equally speechless on increasing drone attacks inside the country except saying that "they (the attacks) are an infringement on our sovereignty".
"Beware, don't try to turn Pakistan into a battlefield... we have the capacity and capability to face the challenges," a senior official, who sought not to be named, said at an informal

PESHAWAR - Mutahidda Aman Committee, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) has urged upon the government to take immediate steps against the US drone attacks within the country, which they said were violation of the sovereignty of the state, violation of the international law and human rights.
The NOG's activists Wednesday staged a demonstration, outside the Peshawar Press Club, demanding an end to drone hits.

PESHAWAR - A top Al Qaeda leader and close associate of Osama Bin Laden is said to have been killed in a recent drone strike in North Waziristan Agency, security officials said on Sunday.
The officials said Bin Laden's personal assistant Nasir Al Wahishi, 32, was killed when an unmanned US drone fire four missiles on two compounds of local militants in Ghulam Khan Town, some 20 kilomters northwest of Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan. "The high value target was

PESHAWAR - In the first drone attack of 2011, three US missile hits at various places in North Waziristan Agency on Saturday killed 15 suspected militants and injured several others.
The US drone targeted militant vehicles and compounds in Speen Wam and Data Khel tehsils of the agency. Speen Wam is considered a crucial route connecting North Waziristan with Thall area of Hangu district, which is adjacent to Kurram and Orakzai agencies, while Data Khel is situated along the Pak

PESHAWAR - Three US missile attacks spaced just hours apart have killed at least 19 people in the North Waziristan Agency, private TV channels quoted unnamed intelligence officials as saying on Saturday.
At least nine people were killed in the first attack, when missiles struck a moving vehicle in the tribal region, the officials said. About two hours later, drones struck the same site again, killing five people who had gathered to retrieve the bodies.
The third raid

PESHAWAR - A US missile targeting a vehicle in North Waziristan killed at least four people and injured several others on Friday.
Officials in Miranshah said two missiles fired by the drone hit the vehicle in Ghulam Khan, 15 kilometres northwest of Miranshah.
"It was an American drone attack, four militants have been killed, the death toll may rise," a security official said. Another security official in Peshawar also confirmed the attack and the death toll. More than 120

ISLAMABAD - The United States (US) broke its previous records of drone attacks inside Pakistan in 2010 which crossed the 100 figure, killing reportedly 930 suspected militants despite strong protest from almost all major opposition political parties of the country.
The US drones carried out 16 attacks in January, 2010 killing reportedly 96 suspected militants and around 100 suspected militants were killed in February in 13 drone attacks in the tribal region.
As many as 53

ISLAMABAD - Calling drone attacks counter-productive, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Wednesday said the attacks were bringing the tribes closer to militants.
"Pakistan's military and political leadership distanced local tribes from the militants, but these attacks are creating sympathy for militants among the locals," he said in the National Assembly, adding that Pakistan was asking US to give it drone technology.
"We asked the US that you share intelligence with us

ISLAMABAD - Calling drone strikes an assault on Pakistan's sovereignty, parliamentarians from both the treasury and opposition benches on Tuesday asked the government to call an all-parties' conference (APC) over the issue.
Speaking on a point of order, PPP-Sherpao President Aftab Ahmed Sherpao said the drone attacks were fueling militancy and terrorism across the country. "In 2010, a record number of drone attacks were carried out inside Pakistan. The government should clarify

PESHAWAR - At least 18 people were killed and several others injured when a US drone targeted two vehicles in a village along Thall Road near Mirali town of North Waziristan Agency on Monday.
Officials in Miranshah, the headquarters of North Waziristan, said two pick-up trucks were heading to Thall when the drone targeted them in Sheratala village, located in Zara Mela area of Mirali. They said the drone fired seven missiles at the vehicles, killing 18 people on board and

MULTAN - Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Sunday said that drone attacks were proving counterproductive in the fight against terrorism, and Pakistan was trying to convince the coalition forces that these attacks were adding to problems.
"We have asked them to provide us with drone technology so we can use it against terrorists," he said while talking to reporters at the residence of Hassan Raza. The prime minister said that the Taliban strongholds had been eliminated and they