US drone attacks, military operation not linked: Pakistan

Islamabad, June 19:

Pakistan Thursday said the recent series of US drone attacks in North Waziristan tribal region are not linked with the army’s ongoing massive military push against local and foreign militants.

As the Pakistani forces started air and ground attacks on the Pakistani Taliban and foreign fighters in North Waziristan Sunday, the US also resumed drone attacks after a lull of nearly five months.

The US suspended the attacks after Pakistan started a peace dialogue with the Taliban, reportedly at the request of the Pakistani authorities.

A section of the Western media reported that the US spy aircraft resumed their mission with consent from the Pakistani government to mount pressure on the militant groups in Waziristan.

The Pakistani foreign ministry, however, rejected the reports and said Islamabad condemned the US strikes, Xinhua reported.

“The reports are completely misleading and wrong to attach these strikes with the ongoing operation in North Waziristan,” Tasnim Aslam, Foreign Office spokesperson, said Thursday.

She said at her weekly briefing in Islamabad that Pakistan has always condemned the American strikes.

“The government has taken a number of steps to create international public opinion against these strikes, which are in violation of international laws,” she said.

The spokesperson also referred to a resolution sponsored by Pakistan and passed by the UN Human Rights Council. She said Pakistan has also taken up this issue with the US.

(IANS)

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