Pakistan Monday summoned US Ambassador to Islamabad David Hale to lodge a protest for carrying out a drone strike on Pakistan’s soil.
The strike hit a moving vehicle in Balochistan near Afghan border, reportedly killing Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour.
In a press statement issued here by Foreign Office, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi called in the US ambassador and expressed concern over the air strike on Saturday, May 21, 2016.
Fatemi pointed out that the drone strike was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and a breach of the United Nation’s Charter that guarantees the inviolability of the territorial integrity of its member states.
He also emphasized that such actions could adversely impact the ongoing efforts by the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) for facilitating peace talks between the Afghan Government and the Taliban.
The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister also underlined that Pakistan and the United States had been closely coordinating in the fight against the menace of terrorism and that this cooperation needed to be maintained.
