ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani military deployed its first fleet of domestically developed drones Monday, as police cracked down on a protest by demonstrators angry at the US for using similar aircraft to attack militants in the country.
The new Burraq and Shahpar drones will be used by the Pakistani army and air force, the military said in a statement. It was unclear whether the aircraft are armed or unarmed, and military officials did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The announcement coincided with a move by Pakistani police to prevent activists protesting US drone strikes from blocking trucks carrying NATO troop supplies to and from neighboring Afghanistan.
The intervention was the latest chapter in a saga that began Saturday, when thousands of protesters led by Pakistani politician and cricket star Imran Khan blocked a road in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which is used to ship goods to and from Afghanistan.
Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, said it would block NATO shipments until the US ended drone attacks.
On Sunday, members of Khan’s party stopped trucks and roughed up drivers ferrying NATO supplies at a toll booth on the outskirts of Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s provincial capital. Police were present at the scene Sunday but did not stop the protesters, some of whom were carrying wooden batons.
Police officer Behram Khan said Monday that police would permit peaceful protests on the roadside, but activists would not be allowed to stop trucks as they did before. Police also opened an investigation into the activists’ actions that could lead to legal charges, he said.
Covert CIA drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan’s northwest have long been a sensitive subject, with officials regularly criticizing them in public as a violation of the country’s sovereignty.
The issue is more complicated, however, since the government is known to have supported at least some of the attacks in the past.
Pakistan has demanded the US provide it with armed drones, claiming it could more effectively carry out attacks against militants. Washington has refused because of the sensitive nature of the technology and doubts that Pakistan would reliably target US enemies.
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