Pakistan restates demand to end US drone strikes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Foreign Office on Monday issued a statement condemning the US drone strike conducted in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region a day earlier. The statement issued by the Pakistani government condemned the US drone strike that took place in Shawal area in North Waziristan on the night of 28 July 2013, killing at least seven persons. Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the importance of bringing an immediate end to drone strikes and declared the unilateral strikes as a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the statement added. The Foreign Office statement further said that the government consistently maintained that drone strikes were counter-productive, entailed loss of innocent civilian lives and had human rights and humanitarian implications.