America officially acknowledges US drone strikes in Pakistan

America officially acknowledges US drone strikes in Pakistan

President Barack Obama offered a dynamic defense of the use of drone strikes to kill Al Qaeda operatives and other militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas, officially confessing the CIA drone program, which had not been publically acknowledged before this.

Obama said he believed that they had to be judicious in how they use unmanned planes. In his view, they have been used for very precise, precision strikes against Al Qaeda and other militant outfits.

In his view, spy attacks on targets have been very precise and will remain a key part of the fight against militants. These attacks have not caused a huge number of civilian casualties, he added.

The US president was uttered these remarks in a question-and- answer session with the public conducted through Google Inc.’s social networking site Google+. He asserted, “It is important for everybody to understand that this thing is kept on a very tight leash.”

It is vital to mention here that the spy operation inside Pakistan have increased friction between Islamabad and Washington.

Obama added, “This is a targeted focused effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists, who are trying to go in and harm Americans, hit American facilities, American bases, and so on.”

He was of the opinion that many attacks were carried out on al-Qaeda operatives in places where the capacities of that military in that country may not be able to get them. Terming Pakistani forces incapable, he remarked, “So, obviously, a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA, and going after al-Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.”

The Americans claimed that Pakistan’s tribal region provides refuge to Taliban fight for more than one decade in Afghanistan. According to the reports, the US authorities carried out 64 drone strikes, in tribal region of Pakistan, back in 2011.

The US had until now declined discuss drone attacks officially. However, the frequency of attacks has been increased in the recent times as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Despite popular opposition, Pakistan agrees the program and drones have reportedly killed dozens of Al-Qaeda and Taliban operatives and hundreds of low-ranking fighters since 2004.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=11174

Posted by Faisal Farooq on Jan 31 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.