On Saturday, at least 45 people were reported killed in U.S. drone attacks in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar. The attacks were on a site about 86 miles east of Kabul, the capital. Local officials claim those killed were Taliban and included two senior commanders. However, the Taliban has not commented on the attacks. The attacks were directed at a Taliban hideout near the border with Pakistan. The Afghan Ministry of Defense said: “Coalition forces drone strikes in different districts of Nangarhar province have killed 45 Taliban insurgents, including two prominent commanders, Abdullah and Meya Saheb.”
Earlier, on May 7, another drone strike in the same province killed at least four people. This attack happened just a few hours after another attack in the north-eastern Kunar province. That attack is said to have killed seven people. After many attacks local witnesses, and at times local officials, claim civilians have been among those killed. There are still at least 13,500 foreign troops remaining in Afghanistan, mostly Americans. Their mission is mainly to train Afghan forces but they are also carrying on an active anti-terrorism campaign including drone strikes.
U.S. drones also carried out attacks in the north-western tribal region of Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan. The attacks were in a district of North Waziristan. Pakistani forces have been operating against the Taliban in the area since last June. A reporter was told by an unidentified Pakistani security official that a militant compound was the target and four rebels were killed. This attack is the eighth this year in Pakistan and casualties number from 37 to 49 according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
U.S. Catholic bishops have been critical of the U.S. drone program. In a letter sent on May 11 to U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice, the bishops said: “Drones provoke anxiety among populations where there are targets, inflicting psychological damage on innocent civilians who live in constant fear they may be hurt or killed and listed as ‘collateral damage.’ This fear and civilian casualties feed into increasing hostility towards the United States so that many say the use of armed drones in these targeted killings is counterproductive to establishing and sustaining longer-term security relationships with countries where drones are used,”
The group noted that in some attacks the wrong target had been hit. They also claimed civilians killed in strikes were often classified incorrectly as extremists.
