Islamabad: Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik has said that the Pakistan Air Force cannot shoot down unmanned US drones.
Malik said the altitude of the drones is much higher than that of Pakistan’s F-16 fighter jets.
“Our effort remains focused on finding a diplomatic solution to halt drone attacks. We feel they are counter-productive. Drone missiles cause collateral damage. A few militants are killed, but the majority of victims are innocent citizens,” the Nation quoted Malik, as saying.
Over 900 people were killed in US drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had earlier said in its annual report.
The US does not confirm the drone attacks, but its military and the CIA operating in Afghanistan are the only forces that deploy the unmanned aircraft in the region.
Pakistan officially protests the strikes as violations of its sovereignty, but its security agencies are believed to secretly cooperate with the programme.
ANI
