Pakistan condemns 'unilateral' US drone strike in Kurram Agency

Published January 24, 2018
A tribesman inspects the site of a drone strike in Mamozai in the Kurram Agency on Wednesday.— AFP
A tribesman inspects the site of a drone strike in Mamozai in the Kurram Agency on Wednesday.— AFP

Pakistan on Wednesday condemned United States (US) drone strikes in Kurram Agency, admonishing Washington for taking "unilateral actions... [that] are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism."

Earlier today, Haqqani Network Commander Ehsan alias Khawari and two of his companions were allegedly killed during a drone strike in Kurram Agency, DawnNews reported.

Sources within the political administration of Orakzai Agency's Speen Thal Dapa Mamozai area said that the drone strikes had targeted a house belonging to Afghan refugees, while local sources in Orakzai Agency said the strike was carried out on a Haqqani network hideout.

Station House Officer Thal Ameer Zaman confirmed the death of a man named Nasir Mehmood alias Khawari.

The Foreign Office (FO) issued a statement condemning the strike "carried out by the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) this morning, which targeted an Afghan refugee camp".

"Pakistan has continued to emphasise to the US the importance of sharing actionable intelligence so that appropriate action is taken against terrorists by our forces within our territory," the FO said.

"Pakistan has also been stressing the need for early repatriation of Afghan refugees as their presence in Pakistan helps Afghan terrorists to melt and morph among them," the statement added.

On January 17, in the first drone strike of the year, one man was severely injured in Kurram Agency's Badshah Kot area near the Pak-Afghan border.

Two people were killed on December 26, 2017 in a drone strike which targeted a vehicle. The strike occurred in the Mata Sangar area of Kurram.

In the same month, last year, a US drone had fired a missile at a compound in the same area. The missile had been fired at the compound at around 9pm, but no casualty was reported.

In November 2017, three suspected militants were killed in another drone strike targeting a militant compound in Afghanistan's Paktia province near the Pak-Afghan border.

Drone strikes have surged in Kurram in the wake of US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a new Afghan policy in August, in which Pakistan was also accused of offering “safe havens to agents of chaos”.

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