Pak Air Force says it is using drones only for surveillance

August 24th, 2009 LAHORE - The US Air Force has said it is now training more drone operators than fighter and bomber pilots as part of an expanding programme battlefield automation, and signalled that the end of the era of the fighter pilot is in sight. In a controversial shift in military thinking - one encouraged by the now-confirmed death of Tehreek-e-Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud in a drone-strike on August 5, the US air force is looking to hugely expand its fleet of unmanned aircraft by 2047, The Guardian reported.

August 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has started production of indigenous unmanned aircrafts commonly known as drones from its leading aeronautical factory in Kamra in Punjab province. The Pakistani version of drone called Falco is being produced in collaboration with an Italian company at the Kamra based Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC), the Daily Times reports.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is alleged to have operated Predator drones out of two bases in Pakistan. According to the New York Times and The Guardian newspapers, the CIA had in 2004 hired outside contractors from the private security contractor Blackwater USA as part of a secret program to locate and assassinate top operatives of al-Qaida.

August 14th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Parliamentary Committee on National Security has termed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud's elimination as a 'positive' development, but has criticized the use of US drones inside the territory. "Although the killing of Baitullah Mehsud is positive in overall context of the war on terror, it cannot justify the US drone attacks inside Pakistan," committee chairman Mian Raza Rabbani said.

July 22nd, 2009 PARIS - Pakistan has once again slammed the United States for the continued drone attacks on the 'lawless' tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. In an interview to a French television channel, Interior Advisor Rehman Malik said the whole country is against the drone strikes which has killed more civilians than the extremists.

July 6th, 2009 LONDON - Britain's most senior Law Lord, until last year, Lord Bingham has said the usage of unmanned drones as weapons of war is beyond the pale of human tolerance. In an interview with the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, Lord Bingham compared drones, which have killed hundreds of civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Gaza, with cluster bombs and landmines.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - With the Pakistan Army intensifying its offensive against the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud in South Waziristan, the United States, with an aim to provide a wide array of videos and other information on the extremists' movements, has resumed secret drone surveillance over the lawless tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, US and Pakistan officials said. The secret surveillance drone flights would provide the Pakistan security forces real-time video feeds, communications intercepts and other information, to assist them hunt down the Taliban chieftain and dismantle his terror network, The New York Times reports.

June 25th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - With the Pakistan Army announcing an all out war against the Tehrik-e-Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, in the South Waziristan region, US drones are also conducting regular sorties of the region primarily to keep a track of the terrorist' activities, something that has left Pakistan fuming. At least two US Predator aircrafts were seen prowling over the TTP chief's stronghold region on Wednesday, The Daily Times reports.

June 16th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States has urged Washington to respect Pakistan's sovereignty and not cause civilian casualties while launching drone against Al Qaeda leaders in its tribal regions. "There is no doubt that the drones have eliminated many top Al Qaeda terrorists.

May 29th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has said that it is capable of shooting down US Predator aircrafts operating inside its geographical territory, but fears that such a step could ignite a war between both the countries. Talking to media persons on the sidelines of the passing out parade at the Risalpur Air Force Academy, Pakistan Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Rao Qamar Suleman said PAF is capable or shooting down US drones, but the final decision in this regard rests with the government and Parliament.

May 14th, 2009 LONDON - Pakistan has asked the United States to hand over the 'ownership' and not only 'control' of the drones operating inside its territory. Referring to Washington's decision to give Islamabad control over the drone strikes in the tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari said such 'half measures' would be of no use.

May 14th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Taking its relationship with Pakistan on the use of drones a step further, the United States, has for the first time, provided Islamabad surveillance information, including sensitive border photographs collected by the drones. The information includes real-time video feeds and communications intercepts gleaned by unmanned Predator aircrafts, The New York Times reports.

April 16th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Both Pakistan and the United States, it seems, have grown accustomed to an unusual diplomatic dance over the deployment of drones over Pakistan's volatile tribal areas. But according to the New York Times, for all their public protests, behind the scenes, Pakistani officials might accept the reality and necessity of drones more than Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi's strong rebuke last week, saying that American drone strikes against militants in Pakistan's tribal areas were eroding trust between the allies.

March 21st, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Awami National Party leader Asfandyar Wali Khan has told to US Ambassador to Pakistan Anne W. Patterson on Friday that drone attacks on Balochistan will be counter productive for Washington.

February 15th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Ten people were killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan's Kurram region, a media report said Monday. US drones fired two rockets at suspected militant hideouts in Sarpal area in lower Kurram Agency.