KABUL’s troubled tribal region between 2006 and late 2009, the London Bureau of Investigative Journalism (LBIJ) said on Tuesday.
Citing a classified Pakistani government document, an LBIJ report said local officials had been “aware of those deaths for many years” in dozens of CIA-led drone strikes in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
Prepared through field research by government officials and agents stationed in the region near the Afghanistan border, the report revealed for the first time the Pakistani government’s evaluation of numerous drone strikes.
The 12-page summary paper outlined 75 separate drone strikes between 2006 and late 2009, contradicting the US position on civilian casualties in drone attacks. The US has claimed “no more than 50 to 60 ‘non-combatants’ have been killed during the nine-year-long drone campaign”.
The period defined in the report fell in the presidential term of George W. Bush for the most part. However, drone strikes also increased significantly when Barack Obama took oath of office. Pakistan maintains the raids are counterproductive and result in civilian deaths.
PAN Monitor/ma
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