WASHINGTON, May 3: Pakistan may ask the United States to stop flying unmanned aerial vehicles over the tribal areas, the US media reported.

The reports, first published in The Washington Post and followed by several other newspapers, quote officials in Islamabad “hinting” at meetings with US officials that flights over Fata by US drones may soon be forbidden. The drones, known as Predators, gather intelligence and also launch missile attacks at places identified as enemy targets.

Although the US military claims that Predator strikes are very precise, Pakistan says that such strikes in the past have killed and injured a large number of civilians not involved with Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Diplomatic sources, when contacted by Dawn to comment on these reports, said that while there will be no restriction on intelligence gathering, Pakistan desires the airstrikes to stop, at least temporarily.—Correspondent