posted November 4, 2012 by Press TV
On Saturday, the Lahore High Court summoned the Pakistani government to immediately respond to the group’s petition that calls for an end to the drone strikes.
Jama’at ud-Da’wah says despite a resolution passed by the Pakistani parliament, the attacks continue to claim the lives of civilians and violate Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Washington claims the drone attacks target the pro-Taliban militant hideouts in Pakistan. However, casualty figures indicate that Pakistani civilians are the main victims of the airstrikes.
Zafar Ullah Khan, a Supreme Court Association official, said that more than “2,000 civilians” have been killed by the US drones.”
The killing of Pakistani civilians, including women and children, in the drone strikes has strained relations between Islamabad and Washington, prompting Pakistani officials to send warnings to the US administration over the assaults.
On October 29, Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, “The attacks are rendering Pakistan’s efforts to counter terrorism ineffective.”
Last month, a report by the Stanford Law School and the New York University School of Law gave an alarming account of the effect the assassination drone strikes have on ordinary people in Pakistan’s tribal areas.
“The number of ‘high-level’ targets killed as a percentage of total casualties is extremely low — estimated at just 2%,” the report stated.