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Drone attack enrages Pakistan party

ISLAMABAD — Missiles believed to have been fired by a US drone killed a suspected militant in northwestern Pakistan, a Pakistani intelligence official said Friday. The incident drew strong criticism from a Pakistani opposition political party that is campaigning against the US use of drones inside Pakistan.

The strike targeted a house in Qazi Kot village in North Waziristan, a tribal region that has long provided a safe haven to Taliban and Al Qaeda militants. The militant was not immediately identified by name, but the intelligence official said he had been a Pakistani citizen from Punjab province.

Drone strikes, which are seen here as a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty, have become increasingly contentious, with strong criticism by an opposition politician, Imran Khan.

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Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, raised the stakes in its campaign against drone strikes Wednesday when it accused the CIA and a man it identified as the CIA station chief in Islamabad of murder.

The accusation was the latest move in Khan’s attempts to end the strikes, which he says have jeopardized peace talks with Taliban insurgents. On Nov. 23, Khan led a protest rally in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkwa province, which his political party rules. Since then, party workers have attempted to block NATO supplies in the province.

The “US has nothing but contempt for Pakistan’s leadership,” said Shireen Mazari, a party secretary.

New York Times