Obama defends drone strikes in Pakistan

January 31, 2012 | World News | Written by

Washington, Jan 31: US President Barack Obama has defended the need for drone strikes to eliminate suspected militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

Obama called the strikes a “targeted focussed effort at people who are on a list of active terrorists”.

He acknowledged that the strikes had increased during his presidency, adding: “A lot of these strikes have been in the FATA”.

The strikes target “al-Qaeda suspects who are up in very tough terrain along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the BBC quoted Obama, as saying.

“For us to be able to get them in another way would involve probably a lot more intrusive military action than the ones we’re already engaging in,” he added.

Few details are known about the covert US drone operation, which is run by the CIA and targets al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the mountainous areas along the Afghan-Pakistan border. (ANI)