Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

 

9 Pakistanis Killed in US Drone Attack, Nawaz Sharif Summons US Charge d'Affairs in Protest, June 8, 2013

 

Pakistanis protesting US drone attacks, Press TV, June 8, 2013	US missile drone attack over northwestern Pakistan, Dawn, June 8, 2013

 

Pakistan Lodges Protest, Stresses Immediate End to US Drone Strikes

DAWN.COM | Zahir Shah Sherazi

ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR:

Pakistan summoned the US Charge d’ Affaires, Ambassador Richard Hoagland to the Foreign Office on Saturday to register a strong protest against the latest US drone strike in North Waziristan on Friday.

“It was conveyed to the US Charge d’ Affaires that the Government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes which are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Office.

“The importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes was emphasised,” it said.

Hoagland was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad on Saturday evening on the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s, and was handed a demarche in this regard, said a press release by the Pakistani Foreign Office.

Key Pakistani Taliban commander killed

A key Pakistani Taliban commander, Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan, was killed along with six suspected militants in the US drone strike Friday night in Shawal tehsil of North Waziristan, intelligence officials told Dawn.com on Saturday.

Missiles from the US drone struck a suspected militant compound in Gubez village of North Waziristan’s Shawal tehsil when a pick-up truck arrived from the bordering area of Afghanistan around 9:00 pm.

According to intelligence intercepts, the militants led by Mutaqi alias Bahadar Khan were planning to cross over into Afghanistan via Pash Ziarat valley, a strategic corridor linking the South and North Waziristan Agency and considered a gateway to Afghanistan.

The Pash Ziarat valley is considered a strategic area previously controlled by Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan militants.

Friday’s drone strike was the first such attack since Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as prime minister earlier this week.

In his inaugural address to parliament, Sharif called for an end to US drone strikes on Pakistani soil, which many view as a breach of Pakistan's sovereignty.

The bombing came 10 days after a similar US drone attack killed the Pakistani Taliban's second-in-command, Waliur Rehman, and six others in a major blow to the militant group.

President Barack Obama said last month the United States would scale back drone strikes, only using them when a threat was “continuing and imminent”.

—With reporting by Zahir Shah Sherazi in Peshawar.

Angry Pakistan summons envoy after U.S. drone strike kills nine

By Saud Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan,

 Saturday, June 8, 2013, 6:57am EDT

(Reuters) -

A U.S. drone strike killed nine people in northwest Pakistan, security officials said, prompting newly sworn-in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to summon America's envoy on Saturday to protest against such attacks.

The missile strike, on a compound near the Afghan border in the North Waziristan region late on Friday, was the first U.S. drone attack in Pakistasn since Sharif was sworn in on Wednesday. There was no information about the victims.

In his inaugural address, Sharif called for an immediate end to the U.S. drone strikes.

Pakistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the demand for an immediate halt to the attacks was repeated on Saturday.

"It was conveyed to the U.S. charge d' affaires that the government of Pakistan strongly condemns the drone strikes, which are a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty and territorial integrity," the ministry said in a statement.

"The importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes was emphasized."

The attack came 10 days after a similar U.S. strike killed the Pakistani Taliban's second-in-command, Wali-ur-Rehman, and six others in a major blow to the militant group.

President Barack Obama said last month the United States would scale back drone strikes, only using them when a threat was "continuing and imminent".

Drone casualties are difficult to verify. Foreign journalists must have permission from the military to visit the Pashtun tribal areas along the Afghan border. Taliban fighters often seal off the sites of drone strikes immediately.

(Additional reporting by Jibran Ahmed in Peshawar; Writing by Randy Fabi; Editing by Andrew Roche and Robert Birsel).

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US drone strikes kill 7 in Pakistan

Press TV, June 8, 2013

U.S. assassination drone strikes killed at least seven people and wounded several others in Pakistan’s North Waziristan on Friday, according to local officials.

An unmanned aircraft fired two missiles at a compound in Mangrothi village in the Shawal area close to the Afghan border, local sources say.

The strike came just two days after Nawaz Sharif was sworn in as Pakistan’s prime minister for a third time and asked the United States to respect his country’s sovereignty and end the deadly drone attacks.

"We respect the sovereignty of others and they should also respect our sovereignty and independence. This campaign should come to an end," he said.

On Thursday, the families of victims of U.S. drone strikes wrote to Sharif urging him to stop the drone attacks, and if necessary, to shoot the drones down.

Four people were also killed in Afghanistan when a U.S drone targeted the northeastern Kunar province. On Thursday, another U.S. drone attack left three children dead in the same Afghan province.

The drone strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan and Afghanistan and have sparked anti-American sentiment across those countries.

Afghan and Pakistani authorities have repeatedly condemned the attacks that often involve civilian casualties and cause damage to homes, schools and mosques.

On May 9, Pakistan’s High Court declared that American drone strikes are illegal under international law, adding that they amount to a “war crime.”

Amnesty International, in its most recent global review of human rights issues, has said the U.S. drone program was shrouded in secrecy and slammed the killings as extrajudicial executions that violate international rights laws.

A review of classified U.S. intelligence documents has revealed that “the CIA did not always know” the identities of people it targeted and killed in assassination drone strikes in Pakistan.

According to an exclusive NBC News report, the Central Intelligence Agency, which operates the vast majority of drone strikes in Pakistan, could not confirm the identities of about a quarter of people it killed by unmanned aircraft over a 14-month period between 2010 and 2011.

AHT/HJ

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Drone strike timeline