UAVs Target Militants In Disputed Border Region

For over four years, US unmanned aerial vehicles have made regular strikes against targets on Pakistani soil, despite the fact that country is technically an ally in the war on terrorism. On Wedensday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said those attacks must stop.

In an interview with CNN, Gilani said those attacks serve only to fuel militant extremism in Pakistan's tribal border region... an area Pakistan holds little real authority over. The prime minister's comments came five days after two UAV strikes near the country's border with Afghanistan, which killed at least 17 people according to Gilani.

The Pakistani leader also strongly objected to comments made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday, stating the country's leaders were aware of the strikes... a veiled assertion that Pakistan may have been complicit in the attacks, and one Gilani vehemently denied.

"I want to put on record that we do not have any agreement between the government of the United States and the government of Pakistan," Gilani said Wednesday from the World Economic Forum. "If there are any drone attacks these would be counter-productive... Therefore we ask that if they have credible and actionable information, they share it with our intelligence agencies and we will take action ourselves."

US leaders counter Pakistan hasn't done enough to quell militant actions in the disputed border region, despite Gilani's assertions his government is "successfully isolating the militants from the local tribes.

"But when there is one drone attack then you get them united," he added. "There is a lot of anti-American sentiment growing in those areas."

Gilani also pleaded for more US-sourced weapons, saying military aid to his country shouldn't be tied to Pakistan's effectiveness combating terrorism in the border region.

"We have the ability and we have even the will but we don't have the capacity," he told CNN. "The world is focusing on Afghanistan; they have the most sophisticated weapons in the world -- and our poor people they are fighting without any arms or ammunition. NATO is having a very, very tough time in Afghanistan. We are also fighting a very tough fight."

FMI: www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pk.html