The American drones have struck numerous targets in Khyber Agency in Pakistan’s tribal areas killing 60 individuals. The reports are claiming all dead were militants. That may very well be true. However, like so many times in the past, one has to wait for the dust to settle to see if civilians were also caught in the fog of war, which has no way of finishing in a victory for either party.
The Obama administration has increased bombings from unmanned aircrafts in Pakistan, violating its sovereignty. The Wikileaks recently revealed that Pakistani military and the civilian government is very much in line with the American plans to bomb targets in tribal areas. Pakistani people on the other hand are not very sure about foreign military striking targets within Pakistan.
The graphic below from BBC reveals an increase in bombings by American planes within Pakistan during fall 2010. The militants as well as the American drones are busy attacking each other resulting in the deaths of Pakistani civilians. Notice the map where those killed in US bombings are in a different part of the tribal areas than those who are killed by the militants.
The graph on the left suggests a slow-down in attacks by the militants and the American pilot-less planes in July and August, owing to the deadly floods that inundated almost 15% of the land area in Pakistan.
I am wondering what would have been the shape and format of war had President Obama not been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
The number of attacks are presented below:
No comments:
Post a Comment