Drone Strike Targets Militants In Pakistan

The Pakistani government has protested the latest suspected U.S. drone strike in the country.

In a statement, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry desrcribed the attack in the northwestern North Waziristan tribal district on October 31 as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal reports that three suspected insurgents were killed in the strike, on October 31 near the town of Miranshah.

The attack comes a week after Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif urged U.S. President Barack Obama to end such attacks.

It also comes a day after the Pakistani Defense Ministry released data showing that 317 drone strikes have killed 2,160 Islamic militants and 67 civilians since 2008.

Past government calculations and estimates by independent organizations have put the number of civilian casualties from drone strikes inside Pakistan as high as 300.

On October 29, a Pakistani school teacher and his two children became the first survivors of a U.S. drone strike to testify in the U.S. Congress.

Rafiq Rehman, whose mother was killed in an October, 2012 drone attack in Pakistan, testified along with his two children, Nabila and Zubair, who were among those injured in the attack in the North Waziristan region.

Rehman said he is still seeking answers about his 67-year-old mother’s death.


With AFP reporting