Pakistan summons US envoy, lodges protest drones attacks

[VelocuR]

Drone campaign: Pakistan summons US envoy, lodges protest

ISLAMABAD: Amidst a sudden surge in US drone strikes in the tribal regions, Pakistan has once again protest the drone campaign which, it says, infringes on its sovereignty.

US Charge d’affairs Richard Hoagland was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to convey the government’s serious concern on drone strikes in the tribal regions, according to a statement released by the Foreign Office.

“He was informed that the drone strikes were unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan’sovereignty. Parliament had emphatically stated that they were unacceptable. Drone strikes represented a clear red-line for Pakistan,” said the statement.

It added that a separate demarche was lodged with Ambassador Hoagland on the seizure of unauthorised weapons from the possession of US diplomats in Peshawar on Monday.

“He was informed that the carrying of unauthorised weapons by diplomats was unacceptable and contrary to both Pakistani law and accepted norms of diplomatic conduct,” according to the statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2012.


Should I post in stupid funny thread? Pakistan officials keep talking too much but can't do act anything.

 

[Hello_10]

any news from Pakistan's newspaper on this incident as below:

NATO strike blamed for wedding deaths in Afghanistan
The Times June 07, 2012 11:35AM

A NATO airstrike was blamed for the deaths of 18 civilians yesterday in one of the worst days of violence in Afghanistan this year.

Hours after the airstrike in the eastern province of Logar, two suicide bombings in Kandahar killed a further 22 people, while separately, two Nato service members died in a helicopter crash.

The airstrike killed a number of insurgents and slightly wounded two women civilians, according to Nato, but local security and government officials said that 18 guests at a wedding were killed when the building in which they were celebrating was hit.

The bodies of five women and seven children were brought to the provincial capital in the back of vans, according to an Associated Press photographer. The head of the local council of Sajawand village, Mohammad Wali, said that a number of families had gathered in a house on Tuesday night for a wedding party.

An airstrike hit the house at about 1am, he said. "The house is completely destroyed. Everyone is shovelling to try to get the bodies out," Mr Wali said.

Nato said that it had no operational reports of civilian casualties but was looking into the allegations.

Hours later, in one of the most brutal attacks on civilians this year, a Taliban suicide bomber on a three-wheeled motorbike blew himself up at a road-side stop for truck drivers delivering supplies to the nearby Nato-run Kandahar Airfield.

After the first attack, at least one more bomber approached the scene on foot and detonated an explosive vest, witnesses said. Officials said 22 people were killed, all of them civilians. The tactic of using secondary bombers, which aims to kill security personnel who attend the initial blast site, has been used sparingly in Afghanistan.

Condemning the attack, President Karzai said that "the enemy was getting weaker because they are killing innocent people".

Civilian deaths were down significantly in the first four months of this year, according to United Nations statistics released last week, but yesterday's bloodshed is a reminder that ordinary Afghans remain at risk from both insurgents and Nato-led forces. The issue of air attacks resulting in civilian casualties has become increasingly thorny for the US and its allies across the border in Pakistan.

Speaking in India yesterday, the US Defence Secretary, Leon Panetta, vowed to continue drone attacks on al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan despite criticism from Islamabad about sovereignty.

"We have made it very clear that we are going to continue to defend ourselves," Mr Panetta said, after confirmation that the US had killed the terrorist group's deputy leader, Abu Yahya al-Libi.

"This is about our sovereignty as well," he added, noting that the leadership of those involved in the planning of the September 11 attacks remained in Pakistan tribal areas.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the Taliban said that insurgents had used a rocket to shoot down an OH-58 Kiowa Warrior reconnaissance helicopter over Ghazni province, killing two Nato service members. Nato said that it was investigating the cause of the crash. No one else was in the helicopter at the time.

The US is expected to rely more on its air power in coming years as most ground troops leave the country before the end of 2014.

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[desiman]

Keep calling the envoy's, its not like the US really cares anyways.

 

[Bhairava]

Pakistan should stop making a fool out of it self by calling the ambassador and conveying him things that he will not even lend an ear to.

 

[Hello_10]

Keep calling the envoy's, its not like the US really cares anyways.

one interesting thing i always notice, whenever drones drop bombs by mistake, we read bomb blast somewhere in pakistan/Afghanistan which i think is intended to take out attention of pakistan/Afghanistan from the casualty of drone attacks. as, why would militants do suicide bombing on their own people walking on the streets, like in Kandhar today itself, please read first two paragraph of the news I have.....

its no doubt that no matter how good intentions US had while going for this so called War On Terror, its US/CIA who has made more terror in the people of that region. thats why I just dont want India to interfere in this region no matter what. so much mess CIA has made there, they first have hands in suicide bombing attacks in that region and at the same time now they are found to be running terrorist camps there also. I would never like to see India part of this much mess made by US in Afghan. I would even propose India to withdraw its every worker working in Afghan even for construction works also until all these things are continuing there. as, I dont think India may achieve something very big there if whole NATO were failed till now. India will only waste its money and reputation if they will put their hands in this mess.........

but I do welcome any move by China+Russia+Central Asian Countries if they all together may help this region become peaceful, like how SCO currently is discussing Afghan issue right now

 

[W.11]

Drone campaign: Pakistan summons US envoy, lodges protest

ISLAMABAD: Amidst a sudden surge in US drone strikes in the tribal regions, Pakistan has once again protest the drone campaign which, it says, infringes on its sovereignty.

US Charge d’affairs Richard Hoagland was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to convey the government’s serious concern on drone strikes in the tribal regions, according to a statement released by the Foreign Office.

“He was informed that the drone strikes were unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan’sovereignty. Parliament had emphatically stated that they were unacceptable. Drone strikes represented a clear red-line for Pakistan,” said the statement.

It added that a separate demarche was lodged with Ambassador Hoagland on the seizure of unauthorised weapons from the possession of US diplomats in Peshawar on Monday.

“He was informed that the carrying of unauthorised weapons by diplomats was unacceptable and contrary to both Pakistani law and accepted norms of diplomatic conduct,” according to the statement.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6th, 2012.


Should I post in stupid funny thread? Pakistan officials keep talking too much but can't do act anything.

definitely belongs to stupid and funny, a country with nukes if attacked, doesnt protest again and agan, it answers through military, if they cant defend our homeland then they should not cost our budget with their military budget

 

[Safriz]

the only real protest will be to send the PAF and shoot down the drones..
USA is a bully and suck at international diplomacy..
the only language they speak and understand is force...

 

[AbhijitSingh]

the only real protest will be to send the PAF and shoot down the drones..
USA is a bully and suck at international diplomacy..
the only language they speak and understand is force...

Dil ke behlane ko Galib, yeh khayal acchha hai

 

[Safriz]

Dil ke behlane ko Galib, yeh khayal acchha hai

yes true...

 

[Oldman1]

the only real protest will be to send the PAF and shoot down the drones..
USA is a bully and suck at international diplomacy..
the only language they speak and understand is force...

Your country only understands force. They have done it before. This is nothing new.

 

[E Pencho]

the only real protest will be to send the PAF and shoot down the drones..
USA is a bully and suck at international diplomacy..
the only language they speak and understand is force...

How are you going to use that force? You're already on the wheel chair. Get real my friend.

 

[Vassnti]

Dick is going to wear out the carpet if they keep summoning him each time they take out a terrorist.

Protests over taking out bin laden now protest over taking out Abu Yahya Al-Libi, seriously RAW must be running Pakistans PR campaign no one could screw up thier image this badly by acident.

 

[joekrish]

There is nothing much the Pakistani political system can do, should show the people of Pakistan that they are working.

 

[Black Widow]

There is nothing much the Pakistani political system can do, should show the people of Pakistan that they are working.

how? by throwing stone at drones? pakistan policy is decided at GHQ as long as military is getting its cut, drones will not stop.

 

[fatman17]

Opinion


The death of al-Libi

Rahimullah Yusufzai

Saturday, June 09, 2012


After a number of missile hits that killed largely unknown and overwhelmingly Pakistani militants in North Waziristan and South Waziristan over the past year, the US finally seems to have gotten a big catch by eliminating an important Al-Qaeda figure Abu Yahya al-Libi in a drone attack in North Waziristan on June 4.



The Americans believe he was presently the second-in-command to the new Al-Qaeda head Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri, though there isn’t any firm evidence that he was holding this position. He was certainly an inspirational figure for Al-Qaeda members and sympathisers after having made a dramatic escape from the maximum security US prison at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan in 2005 along with four other Arab militants and devoted his life to propagating Al-Qaeda’s concept of jihad against the US, Israel and their allies through his writings and videotapes. However, his role in operational planning for the Al-Qaeda and Taliban attacks in recent years is being overplayed. Two other significant Al-Qaeda members killed over the past year were its earlier second-in-command Atiyah Abd al-Rahman and its chief of operations for Pakistan, Abu Hafs al-Shahri.




Senior Pakistani militants Ilyas Kashmiri and Badar Mansoor, leading their group of militants having strong links with Al-Qaeda, were also killed in US drone strikes in the last one year. Their deaths were a loss mostly to their own group made up of Pakistanis and, by association, to Al-Qaeda. Apart from these five known Al-Qaeda-linked militants, others killed in the drone attacks were obscure men associated with various Pakistani Taliban groups.



In an ideal situation, al-Libi’s death would have brought the governments and armies of Pakistan and the US closer as he was wanted by both after having aligned with the Pakistani Taliban, who have declared war on the two countries. In the prevailing circumstances though, al-Libi’s death could widen the gulf between Pakistan and the US as it would provide further justification to the latter to continue the drone strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas overriding Islamabad’s objections.



At a time when the US authorities were preparing to celebrate al-Libi’s elimination as a major success in the war against Al-Qaeda, Pakistan summoned the deputy US ambassador to the Foreign Ministry to hand him the protest note on the drone attacks in its territory. It noted that the drone strikes were unlawful, against international law and a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. Besides, al-Libi’s death would strengthen the argument that the most wanted Al-Qaeda figures were hiding in Pakistan despite the latter’s repeated denials about their presence on its soil.



This and other incidents in the recent past have contributed to the uncertainty characterising the US-Pakistan relationship. Upset with Pakistan for refusing to reopen the Nato overland supply routes shutdown six months ago, the US is doing everything within its means to undermine the government in Islamabad and the country’s armed forces by dramatically increasing the drone attacks and ridiculing Pakistani laws and concerns in the case of CIA informer Dr Shakee lAfridi. So wide is the gulf between the two supposed allies that the US considers Dr Afridi a hero for guiding the CIA to the doors of Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad through his fake anti-polio vaccination campaign, while Pakistan got him convicted as a traitor.



Since the Nato Summit in Chicago on May 20-21, where President Asif Ali Zardari was invited at the eleventh hour to be humiliated instead of being welcomed, there have been nine missile strikes by the CIA-operated unmanned aerial vehicles in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), including seven in North Waziristan and two in the neighbouring South Waziristan. The drone strikes in North Waziristan have continued unabated in recent years because the US is angry that Pakistan has refused to launch any major military operation there to target the local and foreign militants, particularly the Haqqani network.



Perhaps no other place in the world has been hit by so many missiles, appropriately named Hellfire, fired by the drones as North Waziristan. Mostly Pakistani militants linked to the non-Taliban group of Hafiz Gul Bahadur or the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) rather than Al-Qaeda members or Afghan Taliban affiliated to the Haqqani network have been killed in these attacks. As the foreign militants instead of the Pakistanis are more actively involved in the fight against the US and its allies in Afghanistan and elsewhere, it is obvious that the Americans aren’t really harming their real enemies linked to Al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban through their highly regarded drone programme.



By attacking targets after a long gap in South Waziristan in its recent drone strikes, the US is sending a strong message to Pakistan that it doesn’t care whether those being hit are militants linked to the TTP, which is Islamabad’s principal foe, or its friendly non-Taliban group led by Maulvi Nazeer. In fact, both recent drone attacks in South Waziristan in which 12 people were killed targeted men affiliated with the Maulvi Nazeer group with which the Pakistani government entered into a peace accord in 2007.



The peace agreement, though imperfect, is holding as it enjoys support of the Ahmadzai Wazir tribe inhabiting Wana and Shakai and has brought relative peace to these areas. In a recent drone attack in South Waziristan, militants and commoners gathered to mourn the death of a militant who was killed in a previous missile strike were attacked. It was another instance of the US not even sparing a solemn occasion of mourning where condolences were being offered for the dead as it doesn’t want to forego an opportunity when it could get as many militants as possible in one go.



The same principle was applied while attacking a mosque, as was the case recently in Hassukhel village near Mir Ali town inNorth Waziristan when 10 people offering early morning prayers were killed, or in targeted missile strikes on funerals and jirgas. In another recent case, rescuers too were attacked as the drones struck the second time after 20 minutes, a tactic last seen in the summer of 2011 and not different from the militants’ strategy of exploding remote-controlled bombs after ensuring that policemen and others have gathered at the spot of the first bomb explosion. It is such tactics that make the ongoing battle brutal as the militants also justify attacks on soft targets in which often non-combatants are killed and wounded.



Understandably, Pakistan’s reaction to the stepped-up drone strikes has become louder in line with the intensity and frequency of the US campaign. After the first attack in 35 days on May 5 in which 10 people, including possibly civilians, were killed, Pakistan publicly protested the violation of its borders and termed the strike “illegal” and “totally counter-productive.”



The US was least bothered by the protests and its civil and military officials continued to defend the drone strikes as effective and the best weapon against the militants. The US drone programme was always an open secret, but all pretences were set aside once President Barack Obama owned the attacks in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia, and the American officials rather arrogantly started claiming that these were legal under international law and weren’t causing any civilian casualties. It was due to his decision to triple the number of US combat troops in Afghanistan and order a big increase in the drone strikes in Pakistan that Obama earned the reputation of a tough president who had sanctioned a ‘kill list’ and was ready to shed blood to counter criticism from his Republican opponents that he was soft on security issues.



Details also emerged in the US media that Obama was fully aware of the civilian deaths in the drone strikes in Pakistan since the start of his presidency and had gone ahead to authorise the widening of the definition of the term ‘combatant’ to include all adult males of military-age killed in these strikes. Of the almost 330 drone hits in Pakistan since 2004, around 278 were ordered by Obama and the figure would go up in the run-up to the US presidential election. As long as Obama is around, it seems US-Pakistan relations may be temporarily repaired if ongoing efforts bear fruit, but would continue to suffer from deep distrust.



The writer is resident editor of The News in Peshawar. Email: rahimyusuf zai@yahoo.com

how? by throwing stone at drones? pakistan policy is decided at GHQ as long as military is getting its cut, drones will not stop.

pray tell us about these cuts.