US drone attacks in Balochistan will undermine economic package

Islamabad, Dec. 21 (ANI): US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas threaten to jeopardise the federal government's efforts to pacify estranged Balochistan tribes through the recently announced empowerment package.

According to The Nation, hardcore Baloch leaders have told the Government that if it wants to hold talks with them, it will have to guarantee that there won't be any more drone attacks inside Balochistan, not even in adjacent tribal areas.

However, the Pakistan Government is not at all in a position to guarantee this, sources said.

"Therefore, the leaders believe it was useless to hold talks with the government that was unable to ensure the sovereign sanctity of its territories," they added.

The American drone policy is highly confidential and secretive.

"We don't discuss drone policy in public," was the response of a senior US diplomat in Islamabad when this scribe recently asked whether or not Predators are being used in Balochistan.

Sources pointed out that even the federal government is in a fix that the Balochistan empowerment package would be jeopardized if the US drones attack some areas inside the province. (ANI)