Report: US drones killed 894 in North Waziristan

Fri Feb 15, 2013 6:51AM
Though it is only a fraction of the overall drone war against the nation, the Peshawar High Court on Thursday heard details on the impact of the U.S. drone strikes against the North Waziristan Agency, from the tiny area’s agent.

In the past five years, 147 distinct U.S. attacks have killed 894 people, including 35 women and 24 children. The vast majority of the other victims were local tribesmen, with only 46 foreigners among the slain, and not all of them confirmed to be militants. Well over 200 people, again overwhelmingly civilians, were wounded in the attacks.

North Waziristan is a rural area about the size of Long Island, and just one of seven tribal agencies in Pakistan’s northwest. The strikes are only a fraction of the overall U.S. toll in Pakistan, with a large portion of the attacks also focused on South Waziristan as well as other tribal agencies.

The court expressed frustration at the data providing, noting it made no effort to distinguish between tribal militants and non-combatant civilians. This was not a deliberate omission however, as such data by and large simply doesn’t exist, with most of the victims never positively identified and forever labeled as “suspects.” Antiwar
FACTS & FIGURES
In 2008, after Barack Obama won the presidency in the U.S., the drone strikes escalated and soon began occurring almost weekly, later nearly daily, and so became a permanent feature of life for those living in the tribal borderlands of northern Pakistan.

The United States has carried out more than 360 assassination drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004, killing about 3,500 people, according to a recent study by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

A report on the secret drone war in Pakistan says the attacks have killed far more civilians than acknowledged, traumatized a nation and undermined international law. In “Living Under Drones,” researchers conclude the drone strikes "terrorize men, women, and children, giving rise to anxiety and psychological trauma among civilian communities." Democracy Now

"The number of 'high-level' militants killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low -- estimated at just 2% [of deaths]", says the report.

The Washington Post reported earlier in January that the Obama administration is nearing completion of a detailed “counterterrorism manual” that is designed to establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations but leaves open a major exemption for the CIA’s campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan.

Pakistan has decided to raise the issue of U.S. drone attacks on its territory at the General Council of the United Nations in September this year. thenews.com.pk

Source http://www.presstv.ir/usdetail/289026.html