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Pakistan govt. slammed over drone deaths data

Iran Press TV

Fri Nov 1, 2013 5:19PM GMT

Pakistan's Defense Ministry has come under fire from opposition parties and rights groups that say it underestimated the number of civilians killed in US drone strikes.

Thousands of Pakistanis belonging to civil rights organizations and opposition groups staged countrywide protests against US assassination drone strikes on Friday.

Anti-US rallies were held in major cities, including Islamabad and the southern port city of Karachi.

The protests come amid rising pressure on Pakistan's Defense Ministry after it released strange figures on civilians killed in the US drone attacks. The ministry says the US attacks have left over 2,100 militants and only 67 civilians dead since 2008. The figure is much lower than earlier estimates made by the rights groups and even the Pakistani officials.

The protesters demanded an immediate end to US attacks urging Islamabad to get out of Washington's so-called war on terror.

UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counterterrorism Ben Emmerson recently said that the Pakistani government had reported at least 400 civilian fatalities as a result of the US drone strikes since 2004. In addition, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, between 308 and 789 civilians have died in the US killer drone attacks in Pakistan since 2008.

Islamabad has publicly censured the US drone attacks even though it is reported to have secretly supported at least some of the strikes in the past.

On October 23, Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called on Washington to halt the deadly drone campaign in Pakistan. Sharif also stated that the US drone strikes have "deeply disturbed and agitated" the people of Pakistan and that the government in Islamabad is determined to put an end to the attacks.

The United Nations and several human rights organizations have already identified the US as the world's number one user of 'targeted killings,' largely due to its drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

JR/AB/SS