U.N. launches probe of U.S. drone attacks

The United Nations denies targeting America and Israel, but an investigator has launched a study of drone attack impacts in the very same nations the U.S. has reportedly used the technology: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen, Palestinian territories and Somalia.

The goal of the study?

To assess whether reparations are warranted, the U.N. investigator said in a BBC report.

"There is a need for accountability and reparation where things have gone badly wrong," said Bem Emmerson, a U.N. special rapporteur and a British lawyer, according to the report.

Specifically, the study will look at the impact of drone kills and attacks on the civilian population.

Drones, Mr. Emmerson reportedly said, represent a "real challenge to the framework of international law."

CIA drones killed more than 3,000 people in Pakistan between 2004 and 2013, with the majority of attacks occurring during President Obama's administration, according the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. Still, Mr. Emmerson said, the U.N. study is aimed at 51 nations, not just America.

© Copyright 2013 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.