Pakistan demands immediate cessation of drone attacks

Pakistan on Saturday demanded an immediate cessation of drone strikes in its territory at the United Nations terming it a violation of “territorial integrity and sovereignty of states.”

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to United Nations (UN) Maleeha Lodhi told the UN General Assembly that the extraterritorial use of armed drones or remotely-piloted aircraft is a violation of international and humanitarian laws.
The US lifted the lid on one of the most controversial tactics of President Barack Obama’s secretive counter-terror campaign, detailing for the first time the number killed in airstrikes in countries like Pakistan and Libya.
At the same time, the White House released an executive order outlining the steps that should be taken to reduce civilian casualties in America’s ongoing battle against extremism.
In a much-anticipated report, the Director of National Intelligence provided fatality estimates for the 473 strikes between 2009 and 2015 that he said were conducted outside America’s principal war zones in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.
The DNI said somewhere between 64 and 116 civilians were killed in the strikes, and up to 2,581 combatants.
Such attacks are typically conducted via drones, though manned warplanes and missiles have also been used.
Though the US military routinely releases information on strikes targeting the Daesh group and other organizations, mainly in Iraq and Syria, it is the first time the Obama administration has published a toll from its strikes elsewhere, in countries like Libya, Somalia and Pakistan.
The release comes after rights groups and the media for years demanded a better accounting of such military actions under Obama, and many questioned the legality of the strikes.
Critics have long alleged that US strikes — especially drone strikes — kill far more civilians than the administration claims, and Friday’s release did not appear to change that narrative.
Observers also say that without better transparency, it is impossible to gauge the accuracy of US fatality assessments.

Source: Arab News