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al-Qaeda

By the Numbers: US Drone Strikes on Pakistan “Illegal”

Juan Cole 03/16/2013

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The Guardian reports that Ben Emmerson, the UN’s special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, says that the Pakistani government has given no tacit consent to US drone strikes according to a search of government records. Therefore, he concludes, the strikes are likely illegal in international law.

US drone strikes according to Pakistan government statistics:

Number of US drone strikes on Pakistan’s tribal belt since 2004: 330

Congressional authorizations for attack on Pakistan: 0

Number of people killed by the strikes: 2,200

Average number of people killed per strike: 6.6

Number of people wounded by the strikes: 600

Average number of people wounded per strike: 1.8

Number of known non-combatant civilians killed: 400

Further number of suspected non-combatant civilians killed: 200

Average number of innocent civilians likely killed by each strike: 1.8

Percentage of those killed that are likely innocent civilians: 27

Dronevictims

Filed Under: al-Qaeda, Drones, Pakistan, Pakistan Taliban

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page

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