Civilian toll from Pakistan drone attacks not near what claimed

AP » Villagers say most of dead were militant combatants

< Previous Page

Drone attacks began during the Bush administration. Obama has ramped them up significantly since he took office but slowed them down in recent months because of increased tension between the U.S. and Pakistan.

A poll conducted in May 2011 by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center found that overwhelming majorities of Pakistanis who were aware of drone strikes said they were a bad thing and killed too many innocents. Pakistani officials regularly criticize the strikes as violations of the country’s sovereignty, but there has long been some level of Pakistani acquiescence or help in the program.

———

Associated Press writer Zarar Khan in Islamabad contributed to this report.

———

Follow Sebastian Abbot on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/sebabbot

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

About Reader Comments

---

Reader comments on sltrib.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Salt Lake Tribune. We will delete comments containing obscenities, personal attacks and inappropriate or offensive remarks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. If you see an objectionable comment, please alert us by clicking the arrow on the upper right side of the comment and selecting "Flag comment as inappropriate". If you've recently registered with Disqus or aren't seeing your comments immediately, you may need to verify your email address. To do so, visit disqus.com/account.
See more about comments here.