A UN report accuses the United States of downplaying the number of civilians killed in anti-terrorist drone operations, while failing to assist in the investigation by releasing its own figures ... In Afghanistan, for example, the number of aerial drone strikes surged from 294 in 2011 to 447 during the first 11 months of 2012, according to data released by the US Air Force in November 2012, UN Special Rapporteur Ben Emmerson noted in his interim report, which is due to be presented to the UN General Assembly next Friday. Pakistan officials confirmed that out of 2,200 deaths at least 400 civilians had been killed as a result of remotely piloted aircraft strikes and a further 200 individuals were regarded as probable non-combatants. ... Emmerson said the US, which has attracted a lot of scorn in Afghanistan over the drone attacks, had created an almost insurmountable obstacle to transparency. The Special Rapporteur does not accept that considerations of national security justify withholding statistical and basic methodological data of this kind, Emmerson wrote in the report. rt/news/un-drones-report-afghanistan-us-366/
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 17:26:52 +0000