| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Pak tribals bitch about US drone strikes |
| 2010-10-01 |
| [Dawn] Tribesmen in Pakistain's most notorious bad turban stronghold observed a shut-down Thursday to protest against a major surge in US dronezaps, witnesses and elders said. "We are protesting against the dronezaps. Americans are killing innocent civilians but the government has completely failed to protect us,"Malik Jalal, a tribal elder and one of the strike organisers told AFP. Shops, markets and bazaars closed in the four main towns of North Wazoo on Thursday, including the district capital Miranshah, an AFP news hound said. Pak officials have reported that at least 21 US dronezaps have killed around 120 people in September, the highest monthly tally of attacks. The overwhelming majority of the attacks have been carried out in North Wazoo, considered Pakistain's most notorious bastion of Al-Qaeda-linked and Taliban capos opposed to the US-led war in Afghanistan. Most of the strikes have targeted the Haqqani network, one of the strongest US foes in Afghanistan whose leadership is based in North Wazoo. But local tribesmen claimed the US missiles were killing civilians. "They are attacking civilians, they are killing women, children and old-age people," Jalal told AFP. "The government should take immediate steps to stop dronezaps otherwise it should resign," said former politician Maulana Mohammad Deendar. Washington has classified Pakistain's tribal belt on the Afghan border as a global headquarters of Al-Qaeda and the most dangerous place on Earth. A covert US drone war in Pakistain has killed around 1,140 people in about 140 strikes since August 2008, including a number of senior bad turbans, but the attacks fuel anti-American sentiment in the conservative Mohammedan country. Under US pressure to crack down on Islamist havens, Pakistain has stepped up military operations against largely homegrown bully boyz in the area. But commanders have so far avoided a major offensive in North Wazoo, arguing that gains elsewhere need to be consolidated to prevent their troops from being stretched too thin. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 In fewer words, "Those dronezaps interfere with our Jihad!" |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-10-01 16:40 |