US tight-lipped on drone attack cutback reports
WASHINGTON: Department of State Wednesday talked around the reports that US has agreed to scale down drone strikes to near zero as Islamabad was zeroing in on a peace negotiation with Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Media reported
“I did see the report, of course, which I know many of you may have read. We’re naturally not going to discuss alleged specific operational issues. We talked about this a little bit yesterday”, said State Dept spokesperson Jen Psaki during a daily press briefing.
She said that the issue of whether to negotiate with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was an internal matter for Islamabad.
“We would, of course, refer you to them on what is happening on the ground regarding those details in those reports”, said she replying to a media person.
She did not give out any details despite repeated calls from the journalists attending the briefing.
US newspaper, Washington Post reported on Tuesday that the US had cut back sharply on drone strikes in Pakistan after the Islamabad government asked for restraint while it seeks peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban.
The Post quoted a U.S. official as saying, "That's what they asked for, and we didn't tell them no." The newspaper said there had been a lull in such attacks since December, the longest break since 2011.
The newspaper said the Obama administration indicated it would continue carrying out strikes on senior al Qaeda officials if they were to become available or to thwart any immediate threat to Americans.
