US drones kill 20 Pakistanis in New Year

The death toll in a series of non-UN-sanctioned US drone attacks has risen to 20 in the troubled northwestern Pakistan, officials say.

Local security officials say at least four people were killed in the latest strike that targeted a vehicle in North Waziristan tribal region on Saturday.

Earlier, 15 people had lost their lives after two drones fired four missiles at two vehicles and a house in the same region.

One of the injured later died in hospital. The death toll is expected to rise as some of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

On Friday, a similar strike claimed at least eight lives in the same volatile region.

The unsanctioned US airstrikes in Pakistan, which have increased since President Barack Obama took office in 2009, have claimed some 1184 lives in 2010.

Washington claims its air raids target militants, but locals say civilians bear the brunt of the attacks as figures show that thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed in about 200 drone raids over the past six years.

The United Nations says the US-operated drone strikes in Pakistan pose a growing challenge to the international rule of law.

Philip Alston, UN special envoy on extrajudicial killings, said in a report in late October that the attacks were undermining the rules designed to protect the right of life.

Alston also said he feared that the drone killings by the US Central Intelligence Agency could develop a “play station” mentality.

A recent report by the Brookings Institution says the illegal strikes have taken the lives of 10 civilians for every militant killed.

Islamabad has repeatedly condemned the strikes as a violation of its sovereignty, asserting that such attacks have proved counterproductive in US-led war against terrorism.