ISLAMABAD: Within 24 hours of the countrys top military brass expressing its resolve to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan, US drones again hit Pakistan on Friday in Datta Khel area of North Waziristan and killed at least 10 people. Surprisingly, the attack went unnoticed.
Neither the FO nor the ISPR issued any formal response on behalf of the civilian government and Pakistan military to this latest drone attack. The Fridays attack by the US followed the May 2 Get-Osama shame and the subsequent special meeting of the top military commanders in Rawalpindi held on Thursday to resolve that the defence forces would defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan.
Foreign Office spokesperson Ms Tehmina Janjua, when approached at 8 pm on Friday, said that she was not sure that any statement would be issued by the FO on the latest breach of Pakistans sovereignty by the US drones.
Janjua reiterated the governments stated policy that the drone attacks are unacceptable and hinted that the FO was in contact with the ISPR to decide whether to issue a formal response or not. Meanwhile, when military sources were approached, they said that the ISPR does not usually issue press releases on drone attacks.
In a press release issued following the corps commanders meeting on Thursday, the Chief of Army Staff, with particular reference to the Abbottabad US operation, was quoted as making it very clear that any similar action, violating the sovereignty of Pakistan, would warrant a review of military intelligence cooperation with the United States. The same day, the Foreign Secretary, Salman Bashir, also reminded the US of the UN conventions that bound every member state to respect the sovereignty of other states.
Instead of respecting Pakistans sovereignty, the US had the cheeks to launch a new drone attack on the very next day of the top commanders meeting in Rawalpindi and within days of its special forces ground attack in Abbottabad that has earned unparalleled shame for Pakistan and its defence and intelligence systems.
In the recent past, there were signs of uneasiness in Islamabad over the Washingtons CIA-controlled drone policy but the Fridays drone attack went unnoticed both by the Foreign Office and the Pakistan military.
After the shameful departure of Raymond Davis, the United States expressed its gratitude to Islamabad by firing drone missiles the very next day in the same location as the attacks today i.e. in Datta Kheil area of North Waziristan. More than 40 innocents were killed in the attack.
After the long pause of the government ignoring several such attacks, it was the Army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani who condemned the post-Raymond Davis drone attack on a Jirga in North Waziristan. The president, prime minister and even the Foreign Office then followed and issued statements protesting the drone attack.
Later, there have also been demands by different official functionaries here for the halting of the drone attacks to which Washington has never agreed. On Friday, within days of a very serious assault of US special forces on Pakistan territory, Washington again disrespected the sovereignty of the state it calls as its ally in this so-called war on terror.
The military commanders on Thursday indicated of a review of the Pak-US defence cooperation if Washington continued disrespecting the sovereignty of Pakistan.
