US drones killed 2,800 civilians in Pakistan in 7 years

A Pakistani human rights lawyer says over 2,800 of the 3,000 people killed over the past seven years in non-UN-sanctioned US assassination drone strikes in Pakistan were civilians, Press TV reports.


Shahzad Akbar, the director of the Foundation for Fundamental Rights, told Press TV on Saturday that only 170 of the people killed in the aerial attacks on the northwestern tribal belt of Pakistan have been identified as militants.

That means that “over 2,800 people were civilians, whose identities are not known, and they have just been killed on suspicion of being militants,” he added.

US President Barack Obama publicly confirmed for the first time in late January that drone aircraft have struck targets inside Pakistan.

Obama said "a lot of these strikes have been in the FATA", the acronym for Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Pakistan contends that the drone strikes are counterproductive.

“We are of the firm view that these are unlawful, counterproductive and hence unacceptable,” Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said on January 31.

He added, “Our view has always been very clear and position principled.”

Sixty-four US missile strikes were reported in Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt last year, down from 101 reported in 2010, according to AFP tallies.

The US claims the airstrikes target militants affiliated with the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and al-Qaeda. But locals say civilians are the main victims.

The aerial attacks, initiated by former US President George W. Bush, have escalated under President Barack Obama.

http://www.presstv.com/detail/238615.html

Baronvonrort wrote on Apr 26^th, 2012 at 6:25pm:


So they are just murdering people from the goodness of their heart then?

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Apr 29^th, 2012 at 9:26am:

Brevik is a terrorist by the definition of terrorist.It was a totally different topic when I was discussing whether he was a member of an organisation.

Saddam was the leader of a country. A politician. If there were atrocities he personally didnt commit them. Others did.

I do not remember mentioning anything about WMDs in iraq and if you want to discuss them start a new thread.


Now you answer my question. Do you have a perception of a terrorist? If so what is that perception?
[/quote]
Breivik needs to be able to coerce a government or community, by definition. Is that the situation in Norway?
Hitler, Eichmann, Milosevich and Sadam Hussein didn't pull the trigger on anyone ( ?) but were terrorists by their orders against civialians.
You wrote of Iraq weapons in #40.
Again, Breivik was a terrorist if he coerced govt or community. Otherwise he is a crim. I'm agreeing with you, you raving loony idiot unserious blathering rabbit wheelbarrow.

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Apr 26^th, 2012 at 7:24am:

Nuclear Weapons = impotent greed trying to hide its shrivelled self!

GO UNSUSTAINABLE WAR ECONOMICS

WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES, YOU TOO!! aND YOU AND YOU AND YOU!!!!!!!!!!

wHY WON'T SOMEBODY THINK OF THE CHILDREN WHO WE ARE LEADING TO WORLD WAR THREE THROUGH OUR IGNORANCE.

UNSUSTAINABLE GREED BREEDS TUNNEL VISION!

   

freediver wrote on Apr 29^th, 2012 at 4:22pm:


Of course they're civilians.   All Taliban are civilians.

chimera wrote on Apr 29^th, 2012 at 4:09pm:

Breivik needs to be able to coerce a government or community, by definition. Is that the situation in Norway?
Hitler, Eichmann, Milosevich and Sadam Hussein didn't pull the trigger on anyone ( ?) but were terrorists by their orders against civialians.
You wrote of Iraq weapons in #40.
Again, Breivik was a terrorist if he coerced govt or community. Otherwise he is a crim. I'm agreeing with you, you raving loony idiot unserious blathering rabbit wheelbarrow.
[/quote]

Yeah but im trying to work out why some "Terrorists" are treated as crims and some as loonies.

SOB

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on May 1^st, 2012 at 8:27am:

Breivik is all 3 at the moment. Is being jailed as criminally insane much different from jail as crim? Is bin Laden's death changed by a definition? Breivik's murder of kids at a political camp was a bad choice of target. Maybe a terrorist group would have told him that. It reduces the application of "terrorist" to him.