Imran’s rally against US drone strikes stopped by army

Islamabad: A march against US drone strikes in Pakistan led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan was stopped by the army due to fears of a possible militant attacks on the rallyists.
59-year-old Khan then led his supporters back to Tank, a town in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province that adjoins the tribal region, and addressed a gathering of a few thousand people.

He contended that the march had succeeded in creating international awareness about the Pakistani people’s opposition to CIA-operated drones.

In a message posted on Twitter, Khan said he was told “by the army that (there was) serious danger ahead” on the path to the tribal belt. “Did not want to risk lives and turned back,” he said.

He claimed the PPP-led government had failed to tell the international community about the Pakistani people’s opposition to the drone campaign.

The Pakistan government publicly criticises the attacks by CIA-operated spy planes as counterproductive and a violation of the country’s sovereignty.

However, analysts believe there is a tacit understanding between the US and Pakistan on the drone campaign.

Dozens of Taliban and al-Qaeda commanders have been killed in drone strikes over the past four years though peace activists claim the attacks cause considerable collateral damage.

Accurate figures on casualties in the drone strikes are hard to come by as reporters and rights groups are barred from operating in the tribal belt.  Khan has claimed that the US drones kill innocents and create militants.

He said the time had come to find a new way to win the battle against militancy.

The march was also being held to express solidarity with the tribal people who have suffered because of the war on terror, which he claimed was not “Pakistan’s war”.

He said the government should end military operations and open a dialogue to end militancy.

Authorities beefed up security in all towns and villages along the route of the march after reports said the rally could be targeted by suicide bombers.

The banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan said it had not made any offer to provide security to the march.