Drone strikes in Pakistan | |||||||
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Part of the War in North-West Pakistan, the War in Afghanistan and the War on Terror |
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Belligerents | |||||||
Supported by: United Kingdom |
Taliban Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan TNSM Haqqani network al-Qaeda Lashkar-e-Islam Foreign Mujahideen Uzbek Islamic Movement Turkistan Islamic Party Islamic State affiliates |
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Strength | |||||||
~30 UAVs | Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
9 (U.S. intelligence agents, incl. CIA officers) | ~2,000-3,000+ militants killed | ||||||
Civilian deaths: 64-965 |
Civilian deaths: 64-965
Long War Journal:
158 civilians killed
New America Foundation:
255-315 civilians killed
Bureau of Investigative Journalism:
423-965 civilians killed
Since 2004, the United States government has attacked thousands of targets in Northwest Pakistan using unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) controlled by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division. Most of these attacks are on targets in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghan border in Northwest Pakistan.
These strikes began during the administration of United States President George W. Bush, and increased substantially under his successor Barack Obama. Some in the media have referred to the attacks as a "drone war". The George W. Bush administration officially denied the extent of its policy; in May 2013, the Obama administration acknowledged for the first time that four US citizens had been killed in the strikes. Surveys have shown that the strikes are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, where they have contributed to a negative perception of the United States.