Pakistan raps deadly US drone strike

Pakistan has condemned a recent US assassination drone strike that killed at least four people in the country’s mountainous northwestern tribal region near its border with Afghanistan.

The attack occured in an area near South Waziristan’s Wana.

“The government of Pakistan condemns the US drone strike that took place in Wana, South Waziristan on the afternoon of Sunday,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said.

“Pakistan believes that such strikes constitute a violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity and demands their immediate cessation.”

The ministry added that Islamabad was already taking decisive measures against terrorist elements in the country.

The drone strikes carried out on five militant hideouts in the area killed four people, including an Arab national, Abu Turab Arabi, and a local Taliban commander Abdul Hafeez.

The US drone strikes in the tribal areas of Pakistan continue despite criticism from Islamabad.

Washington claims the targets of the drone attacks are militants, but local officials and witnesses maintain that civilians have been the main victims of such raids over the past few years.

The drone strikes are part of the US government’s official targeted killing policy, which calls for the assassination of potentially anti-US militants in Muslim counties in Asia and North Africa.

SZH/NN