Pakistan opposes drone strikes vs. militants

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan opposes expanded US drone attacks against militants on its tribal areas, as well as any strikes on Balochistan, where Washington believes Afghan Taleban leaders are hiding, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Missile strikes from pilotless drone aircraft have created fierce anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, a strategic ally Washington wants to crack down harder on Taleban fighters operating along the porous border with Afghanistan.

The White House has authorized the expansion of the CIA’s drone program in Pakistan to complement President Barack Obama’s plans to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, the New York Times reported, citing unnamed officials. It said that for the first time, US officials are talking with Islamabad about the possibility of hitting Balochistan, where Pakistan is already facing a low-level insurgency from Baloch rebels seeking provincial autonomy.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said there were limits to Pakistani cooperation, and the drone attacks were counterproductive.

“This has never been part of our discussions. There are clear red lines as far as we’re concerned,” he said when asked if there were any talks between Washington and Islamabad on expansion of drone attacks to Balochistan.

“We have clearly conveyed our red lines to them.” The drone strikes have been limited to Pakistan’s ethnic Pashtun tribal regions near the Afghan border, semi-autonomous lands believed to be sanctuaries for Al-Qaeda and the Taleban.

In outlining his Afghanistan strategy in a speech on Tuesday, Obama made a vague plea to Pakistan to fight the “cancer” of extremism and said the United States would not tolerate Pakistan allowing its territory to be a safe haven for militants.

US lawmakers told Obama’s top advisers on Thursday the focus on sending additional troops to Afghanistan ignored the much larger threat of militants across the border in nuclear-armed Pakistan.

Underscoring sensitivities of the drone issue, US officials say strikes are carried out under an agreement with Islamabad that allows Pakistani leaders to decry the attacks in public.

The CIA-operated drones have already been increasingly used near the Afghan border.