Pakistan denounces US drone strike on its territory

The government of Pakistan strongly condemned the US drone strike that took place in its northern tribal area of North Waziristan on Thursday, said an official press release. According to a press release by Pakistan foreign office, the strikes are a violation of Pakistans sovereignty and territorial integrity. There is an across the board consensus in Pakistan that these drone strikes must end, it added. The release said that Pakistan has been raising its concern over the drone strikes with the U.S. Administration and at the United Nations. The prime Minister of Pakistan, Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in his recent visit to the US had raised the issue with President Obama and other senior US leaders. The UN General Assembly in its resolution on 18 December 2013 entitled "Protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism," called on states using drone strikes as a counter-terrorism measure to comply with their obligations under international law, the UN Charter, human rights and international humanitarian law, said the release. At least three insurgents were killed when a United States led a drone strike targeted a compound in North Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, said officials on Thursday. According to officials, a US drone fired two missiles on a militant compound, killing at least three suspected insurgents in Qutab Khel village. Some local media reports put the death toll at four and said a fifth militant was seriously injured. The identities of those killed in the strike were not immediately known but some media reports said that they were of Afghan origin. The Foreign Office said that it has been consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights and humanitarian implications. Such strikes also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations. These drone strikes have a negative impact on the Governments efforts to bring peace and stability in Pakistan and the region.