Islamabad, Nov 21 – The United States has assured Pakistan that it would not launch drone strikes when talks with the Taliban started, Iran’s IRNA reported Pakistan National Security adviser, Sartaj Aziz as saying on Wednesday.
He said that the US drone strike, which killed Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, earlier this month, has damaged the government peace talks with the militants.
Mehsud was killed after American spy aircraft rained missiles into North Waziristan tribal region on Nov 1, just one day before a team of top Islamic scholars were to meet him to discuss about the agenda and venue for the negotiations.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) refused to talk to the government after the killing of their chief and also announced revenge attacks.
“The US drone that killed the Taliban leader damaged Pakistan’s peace initiative,” Aziz told the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee convened to discuss the status of the government peace efforts.
The Nov 1 strike by the US was widely condemned in Pakistan as the government had accused Washington of sabotaging the peace process.
Meanwhile, the ruling coalition in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has announced that it would block supply route for North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces from Nov 23 as a protest against the drone strikes.
– Bernama
