24-05-2025
Pashtun Activists Slam Pakistan Army For Killing Mother, Her Kids In Waziristan Drone Strike
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Activists from Pashtun groups said areas where Pashtuns live are being used as a weapons testing laboratory by Pakistan Army.
Fazal ur Rehman Afridi, an activist from the Pashtun rights group, Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM), said Pakistan Army conducted 32 drone strikes in North and South Waziristan and Tank districts over the past few years and sharply criticised them for the recent murder of four children and their mother.
The children and the mother were killed in the drone strike conducted by the Pakistan Army in Hurmuz, North Waziristan. Afridi told news agency ANI that Pashtun inhabited areas are 'weapons testing laboratories" for the Pakistan Army.
'This is not the first instance where the Pakistani army has assaulted innocent Pashtun civilians, particularly women and children," Afridi said.
He stated that the latest victims were children aged from five to eight.
The activist has accused the Pakistan Army of targeting civilians under the pretext of counter-terror operations, calling the recent strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa part of a wider campaign to displace local populations and seize resource-rich land.
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In a stark shift, Pakistan has turned its drone arsenal inward, launching strikes in the Waziristan region—an area that once supported the state during major counterterrorism operations like Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad, intelligence sources told News18. Over the past few months, North and South Waziristan have seen a sharp escalation in drone attacks carried out by Pakistan's own military, raising alarm over civilian casualties and the absence of oversight.
Rejecting the military's claim that the strike targeted militants, the activist alleged that over 55,000 Taliban leaders and their families had been relocated into Pashtun areas through a formal arrangement with the Pakistani state. 'Now they call them terrorists and use that to justify drone attacks. This is a proxy war. The Taliban are just pawns of the Pakistan Army," he said.
Sources point out that the strikes are happening without any parliamentary debate or judicial review, highlighting how Pakistan's powerful military continues to operate with near-total autonomy. Defence Minister Khawaja Asif's recent dismissive remarks have further raised concerns.
They added that communities once considered partners in counterterrorism are now being labelled as extremists or foreign agents.
Afridi also linked the attacks to India's recent anti-terror operation. 'Immediately after India's Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan Army resumed bombing Pashtun civilians. Innocent children and the elderly were killed," the activist said.
Expressing full support for India's operation targeting terror camps in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, he said many Pashtuns welcomed the move. 'We were relieved our regions were not affected. The terror hubs are in Punjab. We only wish India had continued longer to dismantle the rogue Pakistani military," he said.
At least four children from the same family were killed and five others injured in the suspected drone strike in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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tags :
Pakistan army Pashtun Tahafuz Movement
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