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Pakistan recovers wreckage of drone in South Waziristan

— Photo: AFP

Outrage: Pakistani civil rights activists protest against U.S. missile strikes in the tribal areas, in Lahore recently.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday it had recovered the wreckage of an unmanned surveillance plane in South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan, but did not confirm reports it had been shot down by tribals.

Inter-Services Public Relations, which speaks for the Pakistan military, said in a statement the unmanned surveillance vehicle crashed close to Angoor Adda in South Waziristan, “apparently due to malfunctioning.”

Though the military did not identify it as a U.S. military plane, the aircraft is of the same type used by American forces based in Afghanistan to carry out missile strikes in the tribal areas in the past several weeks. Sightings of these planes have grown more frequent over the tribal areas, stoking public anger that the U.S. was violating Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The U.S. has denied losing a plane. Before the Pakistani military blamed it on a malfunction, reports from the area on Tuesday night suggested tribals had shot down the plane. The military said the wreckage of the plane was being examined and “the matter is under investigation.”

On Tuesday, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The Dawn reported while Mr. Bush noted Mr. Zardari’s concerns over the violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty by U.S. forces, he made no commitment nor did he give any direct assurances that U.S. troops would not violate it again. “Your words have been very strong about Pakistan’s sovereign right and sovereign duty to protect your country, and the U.S. wants to help,” said Mr. Bush while addressing Mr. Zardari.

Pakistan’s problem with terrorism came to the fore once again on Wednesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up in Quetta, killing a 16-year-old schoolgirl and wounding four of her friends and two men of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary.

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