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Pakistanis hold fresh anti-drone rallies

337355_Anti-US-rally (1)US drone strikes are causing outrage in Pakistan where thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the latest show of public anger at the attacks.

The demonstrations took place in the cities of Peshawar, Multan and Lahore on Friday. Thousands of angry protesters chanted slogans against the US, setting its flag on fire.

They have demanded an end to the drone strikes which they say violate their country’s sovereignty.

The protests were triggered after three people died in the latest US drone attack in Pakistan’s tribal region in the northwest.

The developments come as Pakistan ambassador to the United Nations has recently strongly condemned the US assassination drone strikes in his country, describing them as a violation of international law and the UN Charter.

“When armed drones kill unarmed, innocent civilians, there is a clear breach of international law,” Pakistan’s Ambassador Masood Khan told a session of the General Assembly in New York on Wednesday.

He added that the attacks have endangered the solidarity and integrity of Pakistan.

“The use of drones violates Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. In the asymmetric terrorist war, the well-established humanitarian principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution must be observed. This is not being done. There is also obvious geographical disjunction between the location of drone strikes and the primary battlefield,” the envoy said.

Washington claims the strikes are part of its so-called war on terror and kill militants. However, reports on the ground show that civilians often fall victim to the strikes.

Over the past several years, Washington has been launching drone attacks on Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen.

The aerial attacks, initiated by former US president, George W. Bush, have been escalated under US President Barack Obama’s administration. President Obama has recently defended the use of the controversial drones as “self-defense.”

The United Nations says the US-operated drone strikes in Pakistan and some other countries pose a growing challenge to the rule of international law. The UN and several human rights organizations have already identified the US as the world’s number one user of “targeted killings,” largely due to its drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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