Pakistan: Fighting Ceasefire with Fire

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Yesterday we told you that Pakistani officials came to Washington to demand that the US put the kibosh on its covert activities in their country, and suspend all drone strikes along its border with Afghanistan.

The US’ response: today, drones fired four missiles into Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal region, killing six militants belonging to the pro-Taliban Haqqani group. It was the first strike since an attack on March 17 that killed 38 suspected militants.

How does Pakistan feel about America’s latest drone strike? A top Pakistani official said this to CNN: “What is this? A message (from the Americans) that it’s business as usual, irrespective of what we ask of you? If it is, it’s a crude way of getting your message across,” he said.

For the United States, literally firing back at the call for curtailing its operations is an unmistakably aggressive move. And it seems to indicate that it’s is tired of playing games with Pakistan.

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