Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) activist Fazal ur Rehman Afridi has strongly criticised a recent drone attack by the Pakistan Army in Hurmuz, North Waziristan. The strike killed four young children and their mother.
Speaking to ANI, Afridi said the Pakistan Army is using Pashtun areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like a "laboratory" to test weapons, especially drones.
He said that over the past few years, there have been more than 32 drone strikes in the North and South Waziristan regions, as well as in the Tank district. “This is not the first time the Pakistani army has attacked innocent Pashtun civilians, including women and children,” he said. He added that the children killed in the latest strike were aged between five and eight.
The army claimed it was targeting militants, but Afridi dismissed that. He accused the Pakistani state of bringing more than 55,000 Taliban leaders and their families into Pashtun areas through a formal deal. “Now they call them terrorists and use that as an excuse to launch attacks. This is a proxy war. The Taliban are just puppets of the Pakistan Army,” he claimed. According to him, the real reason behind these attacks is to take control of the natural resources in Pashtun areas.
Afridi also said these drone strikes increased after India's recent anti-terror operation, Operation Sindoor. “Right after that, the Pakistan Army resumed attacks on Pashtun civilians. Innocent children and elderly people were killed,” he said.
He expressed full support for India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He said Pashtuns were relieved that their areas were not harmed and believed the operation should have gone on longer. “The real terror hubs are in Punjab. We wish the operation had continued to destroy the rogue Pakistan Army,” he said.
Afridi ended by saying he hopes future operations will one day free the Pashtun people from long-standing military oppression.
The drone strike in question killed at least four children from the same family and injured five others in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Inputs from ANI
Speaking to ANI, Afridi said the Pakistan Army is using Pashtun areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa like a "laboratory" to test weapons, especially drones.
He said that over the past few years, there have been more than 32 drone strikes in the North and South Waziristan regions, as well as in the Tank district. “This is not the first time the Pakistani army has attacked innocent Pashtun civilians, including women and children,” he said. He added that the children killed in the latest strike were aged between five and eight.
The army claimed it was targeting militants, but Afridi dismissed that. He accused the Pakistani state of bringing more than 55,000 Taliban leaders and their families into Pashtun areas through a formal deal. “Now they call them terrorists and use that as an excuse to launch attacks. This is a proxy war. The Taliban are just puppets of the Pakistan Army,” he claimed. According to him, the real reason behind these attacks is to take control of the natural resources in Pashtun areas.
Afridi also said these drone strikes increased after India's recent anti-terror operation, Operation Sindoor. “Right after that, the Pakistan Army resumed attacks on Pashtun civilians. Innocent children and elderly people were killed,” he said.
He expressed full support for India’s Operation Sindoor, which targeted terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir. He said Pashtuns were relieved that their areas were not harmed and believed the operation should have gone on longer. “The real terror hubs are in Punjab. We wish the operation had continued to destroy the rogue Pakistan Army,” he said.
Afridi ended by saying he hopes future operations will one day free the Pashtun people from long-standing military oppression.
The drone strike in question killed at least four children from the same family and injured five others in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Inputs from ANI
