On Thursday night, an American drone targeted a house on a hillside in the Pakistani village of Zawai, located in North Waziristan, close to the Pak-Afghan border. It is said that this house was a Taliban headquarters. The two missiles fired by the drone set fire to the house. Ten people, including seven terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek- i- Taliban group, were killed in the attack. Those who died included a senior Taliban commander, Abdur Rahman, and three laborers.

This is the second U.S. drone attack on Pakistani territory since Donald Trump assumed the presidency in January this year. Although compared to the past, significant reduction has taken place in the incidence of drone attacks, periodic drone attacks are still taking place, as before.

There are no two ways about this: American drone attacks are against Pakistan’s national pride and a violation of the country’s sovereignty and autonomy. The Pakistani government and parliament has expressed its opposition to the drone attacks and voices from public circles are also being raised against them. Our security forces are engaged in their own operation, Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad, which has already achieved marked success in targeting terrorists without discrimination. Consequently, there is no justification for drone attacks by the U.S. on our land. The practice of drone attacks should be brought to an end on an immediate and permanent basis.