AntiWar.com & The Nation (Pakistan) & Agence France-Presse & The Dawn – 2013-09-23 02:16:40
US Drone Strike Kills Seven in North Waziristan
Jason Ditz / AntiWar.com
(September 22, 2013) — US drones fired four missiles at a house in North Waziristan Agency, along the Afghan border, this afternoon. The strikes destroyed the house and killed seven people within, wounding two others.
As with most US strikes, none of the slain were identified, but all were dubbed “suspects” in preliminary reports. It was the 19th US drone strike against Pakistan in 2013.
The strike spawned angry condemnation from the Pakistani Foreign Office which reiterated its opposition to the strikes, saying that they are a violation of Pakistani sovereignty. The nation has threatened to approach the United Nations to complain about the US attacks.
The timing of today’s attack is particularly galling, coming just hours after a suicide bombing in Peshawar by a group which said it would target non-Muslims if the drones didn’t stop. The US, in the end, has no intention of stopping the strikes.
US Drones Kill 7 in SWA
The Nation (Pakistan)
PESHAWAR/ISLAMABAD (September 23, 2013) — Pakistan has strongly condemned US drone strikes in North Waziristan Agency that killed at least seven people and injured two others Sunday afternoon.
Sources said that around 3pm, US drones fired four missiles at two houses in Shawal area of the tribal Agency, bordering Afghanistan. The two compounds were completely destroyed, leaving most of the occupants dead. There was no immediate information about the identity of those killed or injured, they said.
The US this year has carried out 19 strikes, most of them in North Waziristan, killing over 100 people. A senior leader of the Haqqani Network, Mulla Sangeen was killed in a US strike this month along with five other people.
Sunday’s strike was carried out when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was on his way to United States where he has set to meet US president Barack Obama. It is expected that Nawaz would raise drone strikes issue in his address to UN General Assembly on September 27.
Islamabad is also planning to take the issue to UN Security Council too as it says these strikes are against international laws and a violation of its sovereignty. The US drone program is a source of extreme tension between the two countries.
Washington says it needs to send drones after dangerous militants because the Pakistani government refuses to engage them militarily.
A press release issued by Pakistan’s Foreign Office reiterated that these unilateral strikes are a violation of country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes, it said.
“The government of Pakistan has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications. Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations. These drone strikes have a negative impact on the mutual desire of both countries to forge a cordial and cooperative relationship and to ensure peace and stability in the region,” the statement said.
Six Killed in US Drone Strike in North Waziristan
Agence France-Presse & The Dawn
MIRANSHAH (September 22, 2013) — At least six people were killed in a US drone strike on a militant compound in a northwestern Pakistani tribal area on Sunday, officials said.
The attack took place in Shawal, about 55 kilometres (35 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district, along the Afghan border.
“US drones fired four missiles into a militant compound. At least six militants were killed and three others were wounded,” a security official told AFP.
A second security official confirmed the attack and death toll.
The officials said the identities of those killed were not yet clear.
US drone attacks are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, but Washington views them as a vital tool in the fight against Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants in the lawless tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.
The Pakistani government has repeatedly protested against drone strikes as a violation of its sovereignty and there has been a recent decrease in their use.
During a visit to Islamabad at the start of August, US Secretary of State John Kerry suggested that drone strikes targeting Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan could end “very soon” as the threat of militancy recedes.
According to an AFP tally there were 101 attacks in 2010, killing more than 670 people, compared to just 19 so far this year killing just over 100 people.
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