America tells Pak to shut up

The Obama administration has told Pakistan to either propose a practicable alternative to its drone attacks on high-value targets with n al Qaeda and Taliban links in Pakistan’s tribal areas or  stop publicly criticising such attacks.

Diplomatic sources in  Islamabad said the  message was conveyed by American special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke during his recent Islamabad visit.

He expressed doubts about Pakistan’s capacity to hit high-value targets and pointed to the ‘failure’ of the armed forces to root out al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders despite an intense operation and displacement of about two million people.

According to Pakistani officials, the drone strikes have resulted in the death of 800 civilians, including women and children.