In an episode of worsening relations between Pakistan and the United States, a U.S. drone carried out a new attack on Saturday in North Waziristan, the second in less than a week, killing 10 people. According to the private Geo News television network, the aircraft fired two missiles at a house in the tribal region of Darai Nashtar, while other four planes patrolled the area, causing the subsequent fear of the locals. The victims remained unidentified.
On Sunday, Apr.29, a U.S. drone bombed a girls school near the town of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan.
Washington argued that this was an usual place of Taliban meetings and reported the death of four terrorists, but unnamed sources of the Pakistani intelligence services revealed to The Nation newspaper that indeed the victims were four girls.
The newspaper noted that these senseless killings seem to be intended to put pressure on Islamabad rather than fight terrorism, and stressed that “we are quite aware of the high number of innocent people killed by the drones compared to a bunch of terrorists.”
The last two attacks by drones took place shortly after a meeting in Islamabad attended by Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, and Marc Grossman, U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, in another attempt to mend bilateral relations.
The cessation of drone attacks is one of the Pakistani Parliament’s demands to normalize ties with Washington, in crisis since Nov. 26, when NATO planes bombed two checkpoints on the Afghan border, killing 24 soldiers.
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