Drones killed 67 civilians in five years: Pakistan

[Devil Soul]

Drones killed 67 civilians in five years: Pakistan
MUBASHIR ZAIDI
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government claimed Wednesday that more than two thousand suspected terrorists have been killed in 317 drone strikes in the past five years while 67 innocent civilians have died in these attacks.

Surprisingly the official data also claims that no innocent civilian was struck by the drone strikes since January 2012 while more than three hundred terrorists were targeted in the strikes.

The official data negates the claims by local political and religious parties that US drone strikes in Pakistan have mostly killed innocent civilians, including women and children.

The Ministry of Defence furnished a written reply in the Senate today detailing the number of US drone strikes in the past five years.

According to the official data, this year has witnessed the lowest number of drone strikes which are 14 as compared to 2010 when the US hit Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas 115 times through drone attacks.

However, Pakistani government and political parties across the board have termed these strikes counter-productive and have repeatedly called for stopping the strikes.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to the US last week also called upon President Barack Obama to end these strikes but the US has reportedly made no commitment to end the unmanned drone operation.

Defense analyst and author Zahid Hussain believes that the number of drone strikes in Pakistan may reduce, but it is highly unlikely that the US would consider putting an end to the drone program.

Amnesty International recently released a report on drone strikes in Pakistan, accusing the US of indulging in war crimes by targeting innocent civilians through armed drones.

 

[oFFbEAT]

Number of terrorists killed is much much more(2,160).......as indicated by the report below.....
https://defence.pk/threads/pakistan-says-3-of-drone-deaths-civilians.285580/

hence they are very effective.....

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

What happened to the figure media has been quoting since years?

 

[Hashshāshīn]

What happened to the figure media has been quoting since years?

Looks like Sharif's visit to the US was successful.

 

[DESERT FIGHTER]

Looks like Sharif's visit to the US was successful.

How is tht? the drone strikes didnt stop etc etc?

 

[Hashshāshīn]

How is tht? the drone strikes didnt stop etc etc?

Successful for the US, if you know what I mean. Same with IP pipeline.

 

[boomslang]

Drones killed 67 civilians in five years: Pakistan
MUBASHIR ZAIDI
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government claimed Wednesday that more than two thousand suspected terrorists have been killed in 317 drone strikes in the past five years while 67 innocent civilians have died in these attacks....

That's some pretty fancy shootin' !!

 

[boomslang]

What happened to the figure media has been quoting since years?

It was BULLSH!T, THAT'S what happened.

 

[kaykay]

well I must admit that drone attacks were very precise.

 

[ali_raza]

lol look like sharif got what he wanted.

 

[chhota bheem]

its bad news for terrorists.

 

[Dillinger]

Its unlikely that the signature strikes have caused such limited civilian casualties, while an argument maybe made that the targeted combatants in the region do reside in the midst of civilians and use them as cover (which is a war crime by itself) at the end of the day the Pakistani report seems to contradict the stance taken by various Pakistani politicians and institutions. A more in depth look into the quality of data being generated through exclusive use of ELINT and the resultant accuracy or inaccuracy is required.

 

[Anubis]

Weird!If it is true than Pakistan should look into a strike capable Drone program itself and start cleaning its backyard!

 

[SQ8]

Its unlikely that the signature strikes have caused such limited civilian casualties, while an argument maybe made that the targeted combatants in the region do reside in the midst of civilians and use them as cover (which is a war crime by itself) at the end of the day the Pakistani report seems to contradict the stance taken by various Pakistani politicians and institutions. A more in depth look into the quality of data being generated through exclusive use of ELINT and the resultant accuracy or inaccuracy is required.

It also dawns who perceives what in terms of innocence and guilt. Is the Pakistani government counting civilians into the terrorist count? Perhaps; after all if you were behind the Intel that killed innocent people you might just shove it under the carpet.
On the flipside the government may be quite right about terrorists but as such the boundary between tribesmen fighting as TTP if their tribe is aligned with them might be perceived as innocent by their family members. After all, most of us are to give that reaction if we find out that our brother, father or cousin is being accused of something.. we will defend them with saying "Not my _____"..

Proof could be established of true civilian(non combatant) deaths and militant deaths through an independent commission free of BOTH Pakistani government and Western Media/Government/Vested interest meddling. But that only leaves the Lithuanian or a Samoan delegation in that category.

 

[SQ8]

Weird!If it is true than Pakistan should look into a strike capable Drone program itself and start cleaning its backyard!

That was always the second goal of the hidden support for the Anti-drone program by Pakistan's government/establishment. We wanted predators for ourselves(and the Chinese when it came to engines and cheap manufacturing of circuits). that would allow us to police not just FATA much more effectively than with this liaison based or American(read inept to ground realities) strikes where mistrust is the highlight of information exchange; but also in areas such as Balochistan where in certain Sardar and Baloch independence loving areas we could conduct a drone campaign on their commanders and leaders using much less resources than were/are being used up in it.
Hear about a certain Marri meeting to encourage some jobless youth to fight.. Boop.. hellfire courtesy of drone from Muridke solves it for Rs150000 compared to the extra zero needed for a complete op.