The Bureau talks to Imran Khan in Islamabad about drones

In the Bureau’s latest podcast Pakistan politician, Imran Khan, discusses why he is leading the campaign against drone attacks in his country.

The interview was recorded in Islamabad by reporter and Bureau consultant Bennett Jones on a recent trip with the Bureau’s Alice Ross.

Khan says: ‘It violates the sovereignty of Pakistan…. It’s counterproductive because the militants they do manage to kill are quickly replaced. And the third point because of the civilian casualties the relatives avenge themselves either by joining the militants or attacking the Pakistani security forces.’

Listen to the Bureau’s latest podcast: Drone News.

Also in today’s podcast, Alice Ross talks about the first CIA drone to strike a target outside the FATA tribal regions of Pakistan. The attack which hit earlier today reportedly killed at least six and injured several others.

The Bureau has logged reports of over 370 drone strikes in Pakistan since 2004. Almost every one of these has taken place in the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA), the semi-autonomous mountainous region bordering Afghanistan where large numbers of militant groups shelter alongside a civilian population.

According to the Bureau’s research, just three drone strikes have previously hit outside the main body of FATA, in Frontier Region Bannu. The frontier regions are a ‘buffer’ area between the fully tribal regions and the ‘settled’ regions – the phrase used to describe the sections of Pakistan that are under provincial control.

Ross also discusses an attempt in Washington to increase transparency about drone strikes and about an investigation which identifies the involvement of a US airbase in Germany in Washington’s drone warfare.

Jack Serle examined if policies outlined in a speech by President Obama six months ago are feeding into drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen.

The Bureau’s next podcast will be available for download on December 5 on iTunes.

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