NOVANEWS October 28, 2010 by crescentandcross PESHAWAR: At least 1,863 people have been killed so far in 184 attacks by the United States drones in Pakistani territory since June 18, 2004, official sources disclosed on Tuesday. There has been an unprecedented surge in the drone attacks during the current year. A total of 749 people have been killed in 89 attacks during 2010, according to the provincial home ministry sources in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial capital Peshawar. The month of September witnessed the maximum number of attacks — 16 followed by 11 drone attacks in January. Nine attacks have been reported during the current month until Oct.20 in which a number of innocent civilians, besides some militants, were killed. The killings of tribesmen in the federally administered tribal areas have triggered widespread anger among the region bordering Afghanistan but the drone attacks have continued. The matter was also raised in the upper and lower houses of parliament on several occasions but it could not bring a halt to the drone attacks. Only once the drones hit a target in the settled areas in Bannu district’s Janikhel area on March 15 last year in which four persons were killed. Most of the attacks were carried out in North and South Waziristan. Multiple missiles were fired from one or more drones during these attacks. Statistics show a total of 53 drone attacks were carried out in Pakistan by the unmanned combat air vehicles (UCAVs) of US during the last year killing 709 people, mostly innocent tribesmen including women and children. The number of attacks remained 33 in 2008, killing 296 people while 74 people were killed in four such attacks in 2007, 23 in two attacks in 2006, seven in two attacks in 2005 and five in one attack in 2004.
