US: Strikes on Pakistan to continue

Pakistanis hold placards as they shout slogans to condemn a US drone attack in the North Waziristan tribal region, during a protest in Peshawar on March 19, 2011.

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175907.html

The United States says it will not halt its drone attacks in Pakistan, defying repeated calls from Islamabad and Pakistani people for an end to the non-UN-sanctioned strikes.

“The program is something that we have said we go ahead on. The question is how. And that process is going to be something that's going to be one of the main tasks that our intelligence and our military guys have,” Reuters quoted a US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying on Wednesday.

This comes as the chairman of the US military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has met with Pakistan's high-ranking intelligence officials in Lahore.

The US had previously insisted on its stance about continuing the drone attacks in a meeting between CIA director Leon Panetta and Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, the head of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Agency in Washington last week.

Washington has at times claimed it has an agreement with Islamabad on launching such attacks, but Pakistani authorities say there has never been such a deal and that they view the airstrikes as repeated violations of the country's sovereignty.

Moreover, Pakistani lawmakers have strongly criticized the US drone strikes and urged the government “to review its foreign policy and adopt a strict stance to stop CIA attacks inside Pakistan.”

Khawaja Saad Rafiq, the leader of major Pakistani party Muslim League Nawaz, has blamed the hike in the acts of terrorism in Pakistan on the ongoing CIA drone attacks.

The CIA's unauthorized drone strikes in Pakistan's northwest tribal belt claimed the lives of more than 1,180 people in 2010 alone, reports say.

Pakistan urges end to US strikes

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175542.html

Pakistan has called on the US to stop non-UN-sanctioned drone strikes in the country's northern tribal belt as differences between Islamabad and Washington escalate.

The row between the US and its Asian ally over the scale of the unauthorized CIA drone operations in Pakistan's North Waziristan were exposed last week.

Pakistan has repeatedly criticized the attacks which it condemns for violating the country's sovereignty.

Washington, on the other hand, defends the strikes as necessary to fight the militants it claims to have holed up.

But Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Sunday that Washington should share better intelligence so Islamabad can take action against militants itself.

For several months, Pakistani diplomats and military officials have complained that they were being kept in the dark by the US administration's non-UN-sanctioned military campaigns.

Politicians on both sides are disappointed with the results of investment of billions of dollars in the US military and civilian assistance since 2001 with Washington admitting in a recent report to Congress that the results of the spending fell short of expectations.

More than 1,180 people were killed by over 120 CIA drone strikes in 2010 alone, reports say.

The strikes have further fueled the anti-US sentiment already on the rise in the region.

Pakistan urges US to cut CIA operations

Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/174439.html

Pakistan's spy chief has demanded that the United States steeply reduce the number of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives and halt drone attacks on its soil.

This comes as the current Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha met with CIA chief Leon Panetta in Washington on Monday.

In the meeting, Pasha called for Islamabad's control over CIA operations in Pakistan.

According to Pakistani and US officials, Islamabad also asked Washington to reduce the number of CIA operatives in the county.

Meanwhile, reports say US President Barack Obama has rejected Islamabad's call for more transparency regarding CIA operations in the country.

US-Pakistani ties have been strained over Washington's deadly drone attacks as well as the case of Raymond Davis -- a CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistanis in January.

Reports say Pakistan has also demanded that the United States stop its drone attacks inside its territory.

The developments come as President Obama has frequently blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to fight terrorism in its troubled northwestern tribal belt along the Afghan border.

This is while US planes and helicopters have increasingly violated Pakistani airspace over the past months.

The US claims its air raids target militants who cross the Pakistani border into Afghanistan. But locals say civilians are the main victims of the unauthorized attacks.

The unauthorized US drone attacks have drawn strong criticism from the Pakistani nationals and officials.

The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the region, however, after nine years the region remains unstable and militancy has expanded towards Pakistan.

Analysts say the US is looking for an excuse to expand its military operations in the troubled South and Central Asian region to secure bases near Russia and China.

Pakistan urges US apology over strike

Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani has condemned the deadly raids on Thursday, March 17, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170500.html

Pakistan has strongly condemned the US over an unauthorized drone strike, which has killed at least 35 people in the North Waziristan tribal region, and demanded Washington's apology.

The Army Chief General Ashfaq Kayani said that it is “highly regrettable that innocent citizens should be targeted with complete disregard for human life,” AFP quoted him as saying.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has also condemned the attack as "irrational behavior." He stressed that such strikes will only strengthen the hands of extremist elements.

Civilians and police were among those killed in the assault that struck a peaceful meeting of tribal elders on Thursday. This was the seventh such attack within nine days and the most deadly since 2008.

Islamabad is now demanding an apology from Washington.

"Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir conveyed this strong condemnation to US ambassador Cameron Munter and has demanded an apology and explanation," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said in a statement on Friday.

The non-UN-sanctioned attack targeted was the 23rd such strike in Pakistan since the beginning of the year.

Most of the victims of drone attacks have been civilians. The US military denies the claims, saying its air raids target militants.