Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




UAV NEWS
Pakistan says US drone attacks "counter productive"
by Staff Writers
Islamabad (AFP) Feb 12, 2012


Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said US drone strikes targeting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants were counter productive and his country had not given permission for such attacks.

"First of all I want to inform you that we did not allow or give permission to fly drones from Pakistan," Gilani told Al Jazeera television in an interview broadcast Saturday.

"Drones are counter productive and we have discussed it thoroughly with the US administration."

Gilani said the "collateral damage" from drone attacks was counter productive because it undermined his government's efforts to separate tribes from militants, and also violated Pakistan's sovereignty.

Gilani said Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had "some understanding" on drone attacks with the United States.

US diplomatic cables leaked by WikiLeaks in late 2010 showed Pakistan's civilian and military leaders privately supported US drone attacks, despite public condemnation in a country where the US alliance is hugely unpopular.

The United States had until now refused to discuss the strikes publicly, but the programme has dramatically increased as the Obama administration looks to withdraw all foreign combat troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

Obama only confirmed the secret drone programme in late January this year.

US missiles on Thursday killed the most senior Pakistani in Al-Qaeda and one of the main US targets in the country.

Badar Mansoor, who reputedly sent fighters to Afghanistan and ran a training camp in North Waziristan, was killed in a drone strike near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials and a member of his group told AFP.

According to an AFP tally, 45 US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan's tribal belt in 2009, 101 in 2010 and 64 in 2011.

Islamabad is reviewing its alliance with the United States and has kept its Afghan border closed to NATO supply convoys since November air strikes which killed 24 soldiers.

When the route eventually re-opens, it is widely expected to tax NATO convoys carrying supplies shipped to its port in Karachi and trucked through its territory to landlocked Afghanistan.

The United States has made increasing use of alternative routes into Afghanistan through the north in order to mitigate against losses in Pakistan.

.


Related Links
UAV News - Suppliers and Technology






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








UAV NEWS
Pakistan Al-Qaeda chief 'killed by US drone'
Islamabad (AFP) Feb 9, 2012
US missiles on Thursday killed Al-Qaeda's chief in Pakistan, one of the Americans' main targets in the volatile country and wanted for attacks that killed scores of people, officials said. Badar Mansoor, who reputedly sent fighters to Afghanistan and ran a training camp in North Waziristan, was killed in a drone strike near the Afghan border, Pakistani officials and a member of his group tol ... read more


UAV NEWS
China publishes high-resolution full moon map

Manned Moon Shot Possible by 2020

NASA Mission Returns First Video From Lunar Far Side

A Moon Colony by 2020

UAV NEWS
Scientists say Obama Mars cuts to hit research

Venezuela Mars mission after 2030

Obama budget slashes Mars exploration

New Views Show Old NASA Mars Landers

UAV NEWS
Sierra Nevada Delivers Flight Test Vehicle Structure

Space tours to the Moon - why not?

NASA PIT Crews Essential to Commercial Space Endeavor

Jacob Bleacher Gives Free RATS Talk at Library of Congress

UAV NEWS
Space-tracking ship Yuanwang VI concludes trip

China's new rockets expected to debut within five years

China announces new launch rockets

China's satellite navigation sector annual output predicted to reach 35 bln USD in 2015

UAV NEWS
Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle is integrated on Ariane 5

Astronaut Don Pettit Shares Passion for Science from Space

Astronauts seen and heard

Next manned ISS mission to launch May 15: Russia

UAV NEWS
NASA Seeks Game Changing Technology Payloads for Suborbital Research Flights

Rockot to launch two Sentinel satellites

April new date for SpaceX capsule launch

SpaceX to Launch AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 in 2014

UAV NEWS
Elements of ExoPlanets

New super-Earth detected within the habitable zone of a nearby star

Russia to Start Own Search for Extrasolar Planets

Planets Circling Around Twin Suns

UAV NEWS
Watchdog group begins China Apple inspections

Russia to build powerful laser facility

Northrop Grumman Delivers 25,000th Electro-Optic Laser System to U.S. Army

Iran Launches New Home-Made Satellite into Orbit




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement