Pakistan strongly condemns US drone attacks

Pakistan has strongly condemned the US-led drone strike on Sunday which killed at least four people in North Waziristan tribal region of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan. According to a statement issued by Foreign Office on Monday, "Such unilateral attacks are in contravention of international law and counter-productive to the stability of this country. The Government maintained its position that drone strikes violate its territorial integrity and sovereignty," adding that such attacks also set dangerous precedents in the inter-state relations. Pakistan has condemned the US drone strikes several times earlier too. A UN special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights Ben Emmerson visited Islamabad as part of an investigation into civilian casualties caused by drone strikes a few days ago. He stated the US drones as the violation of the sovereignty of Pakistan's territory. According to Britain's Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 3,577 people have been killed in CIA drone attacks in Pakistan since 2004.