U.S. to Give Pakistan Crucial Drone Technology

July 5, 2009 9:25 a.m. EST

Islamabad, Pakistan (TML) - The United States has agreed to provide Pakistan with the technology to build drones in a move likely to assist Islamabad in its ongoing fight against the Taliban.

Pakistani Interior Minister Rahman Malek said Pakistan was set to acquire the technology for the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) from the U.S. and that it would get this technology soon, according to Gulf News.

Malek made the comments following a meeting with visiting U.S. Homeland Secretary, Janet Napolitano.

U.S. drones have frequently been used to carry out attacks in Pakistani tribal areas over the past few months. The policy has drawn anger from Islamabad because the drone attacks inflict a high rate of civilian casualties and Pakistanis view this as an infringement on their sovereignty.

"I think giving Pakistan the drone technology would certainly build a new level of trust between the two counties," Iqbal Khattak, Bureau Chief of the Peshawar-based Daily Times told The Media Line.

"At present, the two countries are facing a serious problem of trust deficit, which should go away if we look for future peace."

Khattak said the question of sovereignty was "very sensitive" in Pakistan.

Drones have proven to be very effective in fighting Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban but if the Pakistanis use this, they will still need to be very careful not to hit civilians in the process, Khattak said. This would require "error-free human intelligence on the ground" in order to pinpoint the target and avoid civilian casualties, he added.

"I think there will be more responsibility on the shoulders of Pakistani authorities once they get the drone technology," he said.

He explained that this would push the Pakistanis to take action, in that they would not be able to use their lack of drones as an excuse for failing to target senior Taliban members, such as Maulana Fazlulla in Swat.

The U.S. drones usually take off from bases in neighboring Afghanistan. Around 40 such attacks have taken place in tribal areas since last August.

The U.S. Senate has criticized Pakistan for taking a hypocritical line on the drone issue.

Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in May that Pakistan was publicly slamming the U.S. for the drone attacks, even though it quietly approved of them behind closed doors, Pakistan's Dawn reported.

Levin said this criticism was giving enemies of the U.S. ammunition for propaganda.

Earlier, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Pakistan had an arrangement with the U.S., under which the U.S. allowed Islamabad to receive data collected by the UAVs.

Pakistan and the U.S. also discussed cooperation in sharing intelligence. Sharing drone technology is the most recent indication that Washington and Islamabad are bolstering cooperation in their efforts to eradicate the Taliban.

In March, U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to defeat and dismantle Al-Qa'ida and the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan and prevent them from returning to either country.

The U.S. needs to be careful not to repeat past mistakes of failing to follow up and stay involved in the troubled area, Khattak said.

"If the U.S. gets Al-Qa'ida defeated in Afghanistan, it should stay engaged with the region," he said.

Malek said Pakistan was not being ordered by the U.S. administration on its conduct in military operations in Swat and elsewhere.

At least six people were killed in a U.S. drone attack on Friday, according to Pakistani officials, although some reports suggest the death toll was as high as 17.

The drone targeted a suspected Taliban camp and a religious school used by fighters in South Waziristan, an area in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan is engaged in a military operation in that area, in a bid to capture or kill Beitullah Mehsud, a senior Taliban chief based in the country.

On June 23, a U.S. drone attack targeted a funeral in South Waziristan which was supposedly being attended by Mehsud. The attack reportedly killed 50 people but Mehsud was unhurt.

The operation coincides with a huge U.S. military operation against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

It also follows a Pakistani offensive in the Swat Valley that began in April, launched after Taliban leaders backtracked on a peace deal.