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Pakistan claims first-ever deadly drone strike

September 7, 2015

A missile fired from a Pakistani drone has killed at least three suspected militants. The Pakistani army says it was the first deployment of its indigenously developed armed drone.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GS3T
Pakistan Burraq Drohne
Image: picture-alliance/AA/M. Aktas

The "Burraq" drone attacked a suspected militant hideout late Sunday in the Shawal Valley, which has long been a militant stronghold on the border with Afghanistan, Major General Asim Bajwa, the military's chief spokesman, announced.

Militants in the area identified one of the three people killed in the Sunday night strike as Nizam Wazir, a faction leader allied with the Pakistani Taliban. Wazir is to be buried on Monday.

Armed drone race

Pakistan Proteste gegen US Drohnenangriffe
A protest against US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas, in Karachi, Pakistan, 23 October 2013.Image: picture-alliance/dpa

The deployment of an armed drone will add a new layer of complexity to a debate on the use of drones in Pakistan where the government has officially denounced numerous strikes by US drones on militants over the past decade.

US drones have killed more than 2,400 people in Pakistan since 2004, according to the independent London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, which monitors strikes through news reports.

The US Pentagon has said it would consider exporting armed drones to allied countries, though Pakistan - which has a tense relationship with neighboring India - was not on the list.

The Pakistani military announced that it had deployed two locally-produced unarmed surveillance drones in 2013. Analysts say Pakistan's drones look very much like drones from Pakistan's close ally, China.

An armed version was tested earlier this year but operations were suspended after doubts emerged about accuracy of its missiles.

"Some minor design changes have since been made," a security official told the DPA news agency. "We hope it's perfect now."

Government forces launched an offensive last year against Pakistani Taliban militants in the tribal ethnic Pashtun regions. It has now expanded its offensive into the Shawal Valley near the mountainous Afghan border.

jar/kms (AP, Reuters, dpa)