CIA-controlled drones carried out 248 strikes under Obama

A total of 248 US drone strikes have occurred during President Barack Obama’s first three years, rising to a frequency of almost one strike every four days, an investigative report says. With the US military unable to operate overtly inside Pakistan, the Obama Administration has come to rely heavily on CIA drone strikes to attack the alleged militants in the country’s western tribal areas. A research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism shows that at least 1,842 people have been killed in the Obama strikes, most of them militants. Recently, Obama’s chief counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan reported that the president has ‘insisted’ that Pakistan drone strikes ‘do not put… innocent men, women and children in danger’. Yet at least 218 of those killed in drone attacks in Obama’s time in office have been civilians. The Bureau has found credible evidence of at least 45 civilians killed in some ten strikes in this time. The US continues to insist that it ‘can’t confirm any noncombatant casualties’ in the past year. In comparison, there were 52 US drone strikes in Pakistan during President Bush’s years in office. One in three of those attacks resulted in the reported deaths of children. “It is simply unclear what ‘rules of engagement’ the CIA agents are following in Pakistan. It’s also unclear how the USA is investigating the impact of attacks in order to assess their impact and compliance with international law. Given the failures of US intelligence…in Afghanistan, where conditions are relatively more conducive, there are real grounds for skepticism about the US’ ability to target accurately and to assess the impact of strikes accurately,” said Amnesty International’s Director of Asia Pacific Sam Zarifi. He asked the Obama Administration to explain the legal basis for its drone strikes in Pakistan to avoid the perception that it acts with impunity. “The Pakistan Government must also ensure accountability for indiscriminate killing, in violation of the international laws, that occur inside Pakistan,” Sam Zarifi said. The Bureau has now identified 300 drone strikes since June 17, 2004. Of these, 248 have occurred during President Obama’s three years in office, rising to a frequency of one strike every four days. According to a detailed analysis of the attacks, at least 2,318 people have been killed in the CIA campaign, the majority of them alleged militants. But among them at least 386 civilians – and as many as 775 – have reportedly died, including women and children, the Bureau’s investigations show, including more than 170 children. Meanwhile, more than 1,100 people have been reported injured in those attacks.