APML leader asks US to pull out of Afghanistan

Says Afghan Taliban controlling 70% territory

PESHAWAR: All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa woman wing president, Ayesha Gulalay Wazir, on Tuesday asked the US to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan as more than 70 percent of its territory was in the control of the Taliban.

She told The News that innocent tribespersons were being killed in the drone attacks while thousands of people had to flee their hometowns for fear of being killed in the drone strikes.

“US drone strikes are the open violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and independence, which would not be tolerated anymore,” she believed.

She said the government should direct the Pakistan Air Force to shoot down pilot-less drones. “The drone strikes are fanning hatred among the tribal people for the US and Pakistani governments,” the APML leader said.

Ayesha Gulalay said the US had spent billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money over the 11 years in the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan, but had been unable to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.

She said that more than 50 innocent people were killed in the five drone strikes over the last two weeks in Wazirisan, but the government had adopted a criminal mum.

Ayesha said that most of the people in the tribal areas particularly women and children had become psycho patients due to the fear of drone strikes.

She said the UN commissioner for human rights recently condemned the US violation in Pakistan and asked them to stop drone strikes in Fata. She said the drone attacks were not only against the Pakistan laws but were also violation of the international laws.

Ayesha said talks were the key to bringing an end to the ongoing war on terror and not the use of force. She asked the government to undertake development projects in Fata to counter militancy.

She urged the government to pull out of the so-called war on terror and concentrate on improving the faltering economy.

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