Pakistan lodges protest, stresses ‘immediate end to US drone strikes’

Published June 8, 2013
A key Pakistani Taliban commander, Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan, was killed along with six suspected militants in the US drone strike Friday night in Shawal tehsil of North Waziristan, intelligence officials told Dawn.com on Saturday.—File Photo
A key Pakistani Taliban commander, Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan, was killed along with six suspected militants in the US drone strike Friday night in Shawal tehsil of North Waziristan, intelligence officials told Dawn.com on Saturday.—File Photo

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistan summoned the US Charge d’ Affaires, Ambassador Richard Hoagland to the Foreign Office on Saturday to register a strong protest against the latest US drone strike in North Waziristan on Friday.

“It was conveyed to the US Charge d’ Affaires that the Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Office.

“The importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes was emphasised,” it said.

Hoagland was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Saturday evening on the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s, and was handed a demarche in this regard, said a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Office.

Key Pakistani Taliban commander killed

A key Pakistani Taliban commander, Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan, was killed along with six suspected militants in the US drone strike Friday night in Shawal tehsil of North Waziristan, intelligence officials told Dawn.com on Saturday.

Missiles from the US drone struck a suspected militant compound in Gubez village of North Waziristan’s Shawal tehsil when a pick-up truck arrived from the bordering area of Afghanistan around 9:00 pm.

According to intelligence intercepts, the militants led by Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan were planning to cross over into Afghanistan via Pash Ziarat valley, a strategic corridor linking the South and North Waziristan Agency and considered a gateway to Afghanistan.

The Pash Ziarat valley is considered a strategic area previously controlled by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants.

Friday’s drone strike was the first such attack since Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as prime minister earlier this week.

In his inaugural address to parliament, Sharif called for an end to US drone strikes on Pakistani soil, which many view as a breach of Pakistan's sovereignty.

The bombing came 10 days after a similar US drone attack killed the Pakistani Taliban's second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, and six others in a major blow to the militant group.

President Barack Obama said last month the United States would scale back drone strikes, only using them when a threat was “continuing and imminent”.

—With reporting by Zahir Shah Sherazi in Peshawar.

Opinion

Editorial

By-election trends
Updated 23 Apr, 2024

By-election trends

Unless the culture of violence and rigging is rooted out, the credibility of the electoral process in Pakistan will continue to remain under a cloud.
Privatising PIA
23 Apr, 2024

Privatising PIA

FINANCE Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb’s reaffirmation that the process of disinvestment of the loss-making national...
Suffering in captivity
23 Apr, 2024

Suffering in captivity

YET another animal — a lioness — is critically ill at the Karachi Zoo. The feline, emaciated and barely able to...
Not without reform
Updated 22 Apr, 2024

Not without reform

The problem with us is that our ruling elite is still trying to find a way around the tough reforms that will hit their privileges.
Raisi’s visit
22 Apr, 2024

Raisi’s visit

IRANIAN President Ebrahim Raisi, who begins his three-day trip to Pakistan today, will be visiting the country ...
Janus-faced
22 Apr, 2024

Janus-faced

THE US has done it again. While officially insisting it is committed to a peaceful resolution to the...