Pak likely to pull plug on CIA-operated drone strikes in N.Waziristan region

ISLAMABAD - In a major policy shift, Pakistan is likely to say ‘No’ to the United States over its CIA-operated drone strikes in the North Waziristan Agency, thus bringing an end to the policy of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf.

According to well-placed sources, Islamabad has decided in principle to convey to Washington that it does not want unabated drone strikes, and would rather like to tackle terrorism-related challenges on its own, The Nation reported.

When approached, the US Embassy spokesman expressed his ignorance about these developments, but government and military sources were of the firm opinion that the US drone strikes had aggravated Pakistan’s problems.

“The US might have achieved tactical gains through the drone strikes, but they too had caused enormous damage to Pakistan’s efforts towards fighting the terrorism”, said military chief spokesperson Major General Ather Abbas.

He was of the view that the Pakistan Army does not support US drone strikes, and has always sought to secure the US drone technology to effectively tackle the challenge without causing any collateral damage. However, these efforts, he said, had not borne any results so far.

In a related development, the National Assembly Standing Committee on Defence took a serious view of the media reports on Wednesday that US was seeking to expand drone attacks to Quetta region in Balochistan.

The committee sought a candid clarification from the Interior, Foreign and Defence Ministries by December 7 in this regard, and also directed for a special briefing on ISI’s role in the war on terror.

The committee members, while taking serious notice of the reports of the US’ intention to expand its drone strikes to Quetta, were furious that Pakistan’s sovereignty and security was continuously being violated in the name of war on terror.

They were of the view that the entire nation was united against drone attacks, and that the government, instead of bearing an apologetic attitude, should adopt a categorical stance that the US drone strikes are totally unacceptable to the people of Pakistan. (ANI)