Amnesty International: US drone strikes in Pakistan 'may constitute war crimes'

Human rights group Amnesty International is calling on the US to investigate civilian deaths from drone strikes, amid concerns that the attacks could have resulted in unlawful killings which may constitute war crimes.

The group said they had examined nine out of 45 recent strikes by US drones and found that a number of victims who died in the attacks were unarmed.

The report, entitled Will I be Next? US drone strikes in Pakistan centred on the controversial death of 68-year-old Mamana Bibi, who was allegedly killed by a US drone in October 2012 while she was picking vegetables with her grandchildren in north-west Pakistan.

The attack, which left three of her grandchildren injured, took place in the North Waziristen tribal area, a region bordering Afghanistan. Nabeela, the woman’s eight year-old granddaughter survived the strike but said that whenever she hears drones fly overhead now she wonders “will I be next?”

The US government has refused to provide even basic details over the strikes, the report says, leaving the human rights group unable to reach “firm conclusions” on the status of the deaths of Mamana Bibi and the 18 laborers.

Less than 50%

[link to www.independent.co.uk]