U.N.: U.S. drones violate Pakistan’s sovereignty

The head of a U.N. agency that investigates human rights and counterterrorism said the United States is violating Pakistan’s sovereignty with drone strikes.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur for the group, issued the scathing conclusion after a secret research trip to Pakistan to study the issue further, the Associated Press reports. During the trip, Mr. Emmerson said, Pakistan officials clarified they don’t support the United States’ use of drones to carry out attacks against identified terrorists.

President Obama has increased the CIA’s drone attacks against al Qaeda and Taliban militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the past four years, AP says.

Those drone attacks should stop, Mr. Emmerson said.

“It is time for the international community to heed the concerns of Pakistan, and give the next democratically elected government of Pakistan the space, support and assistance it needs to deliver a lasting peace on its own territory without forcible military interference by other states,” he said, as AP reported.

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