US drone strikes slowly but surely breaking Pak Taliban’s back: Expert

October 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Malik Ammad Khan has assured senators that drone strikes won't be allowed in Balochistan. Replying to senators' concerns about the possibility of drone attacks in Balochistan, he said the government is alive to the situation and is taking effective measures against both the terrorists and other militant elements.

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 5th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - The wife of Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a suspected US drone strike in northwestern Pakistan's South Waziristan tribal agency, TV channels reported Wednesday. TV reports said the drone hit the house of Akramuddin, father-in-law of Mehsud, killing four people and injuring two others.

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 3rd, 2009 ISLAMABAD - At least 13 people were killed and several others injured in two missile hits carried out by unmanned US Predator aircrafts in South Waziristan on Friday. Sources said the US drone targeted a suspected terror camp in Kokatkhel village of Sarokai area, and fired several missiles killing 13 persons on the spot besides wounding several others.

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 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - The missile strikes being carried out by US drones has unsettled Al-Qaeda and other terror groups operating the tribal belt along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, US intelligence and military officials have claimed. They believe Al-Qaeda has suffered major losses in the attacks, but still remains a potent threat to the world.

May 25th, 2009 LAHORE - Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has said that extremism is growing over US drone raids inside the tribal region of the country. He expressed these views, while speaking to the visiting US Senators here on Monday.

May 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - : A key US lawmaker has criticized Pakistan for maintaining a double faced commitment over the US drone strikes inside its geographical territory with condemning the attacks publicly and approving them privately. Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Carl Levin said Pakistan must publicly admit that it supports the drone strikes being carried out against the Taliban and other extremists in the lawless tribal region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

May 7th, 2009 LAHORE - While Pakistan has been continuously objecting to the US led drone targeting of the extremists in the lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border, it is highly unlikely that the United States would suspend the missile strikes any time soon, as they have resulted in sanitizing several top Taliban and Al-Qaeda operatives. A weekly report by the by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Islamabad stated that the Obama Administration considers the drone strikes a very successful tool to counter the terror threat, so it is unlikely that the strikes would be suspended in the near future.

May 3rd, 2009 LAHORE - The top adviser to the US army chief in Afghanistan, David Kilcullen, has observed that the US drone strikes in Pakistan are creating more enemies than eliminating them, and hence, needed to be "called off." Responding to a congressman on what the US government should do in Pakistan, he said: "We need to call off the drones." The Daily Times quoted Kilcullen, as saying that he has no objection to killing "bad guys" in Pakistan. However, he added that the strikes were creating more enemies than they eliminate.

April 28th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif has urged British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to use his influence to make the US shun its policy of drone strikes in the Tribal Areas. The appeal came at a meeting between Sharif and Brown who had called on the PML-N chief at Punjab House.

April 20th, 2009 LANDIKOTAL - The Jamaat-e-Islami has threatened to disrupt supplies to the NATO forces stationed in Afghanistan, if the United States continues with drone attacks in Pakistan's Tribal Areas. The warning was issued at a JeI public meeting, during which the participants took out a rally against drone strikes, the military operation in FATA, and the country's cooperation with the US in its war on terror.

April 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Notwithstanding the threat from Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud the United States is planning to extend Predator drone strikes to Balochistan, a reports has claimed. According to The New York Times, the Obama Administration is planning to extend missile attacks to Balochistan also, unless Pakistan takes stern action against terror hideouts and training camps.

February 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - CIA Director Leon Panetta has said that the US aerial attacks against Al Qaeda and other extremist strongholds inside Pakistan have been successful and would continue despite concerns about a popular Pakistani backlash. He said the drone strikes have so far turned successful in accomplishing goals.