Thousands in Pakistan protest American drone strikes

Thousands of people gathered Saturday in the Northwestern city of Peshawar to protest against American drone strikes inside Pakistani territory and vowed to stop NATO supply trucks unless the attacks stopped. The protest rally was organized by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, the political party of the opposition leader Imran Khan, an outspoken critic of American drone strikes and the Pakistani military’s presence in the country’s border areas, where Taliban and Al Qaeda militants have long found a haven, NY Times reported. Addressing 10,000 to 13,000 flag-waving party workers and supporters from two allied political parties, Mr. Khan accused the United States of sabotaging peace talks with the Taliban. “There can be no peace unless drones are stopped,” he said. Pakistani politicians denounce the attacks as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. Pakistani officials have regularly condemned the strikes in public while, in the past, endorsing them in private. But increasingly the drone campaign has strained relations between Pakistan and the United States. The opposition against the American drone strikes reached its loudest pitch on Nov. 1, when a missile strike killed Hakimullah Mehsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban. Mr. Khan and Nisar Ali Khan, the country’s interior minister, contended that the government had been about to enter into peace talks with the insurgents and that the killing had jeopardized the nascent peace process. On Saturday, Mr. Khan challenged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to stand up to the United States and vowed to press Washington to change its policy. “We will put pressure on America, and our protest will continue if drone attacks are not stopped,” he said. Still, the protest on Saturday was largely symbolic. NATO trucks do not operate on weekends. Shireen Mazari, an official in Mr. Khan’s party, said workers would begin stopping the trucks on Sunday in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. If they do, supplies will continue through another route in Baluchistan Province. A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban praised the protest, but Pervaiz Rashid, the Pakistani information minister, called it a farce. At a market near the protest, some merchants said political leaders should focus on economic issues. “The provincial government has done nothing so far for the welfare of common people,” said Ajmal Khan, a shopkeeper.