Pakistan Opens Criminal Case Over Civilian Killed in US Drone Strike

Family Complains US Strike Killed Cab Driver

by Jason Ditz, May 29, 2016

Pakistan has opened a criminal complaint against unnamed “US authorities” today at the behest of the family of Mohammad Azam, a taxi driver who was killed last weekend in the US drone strike which assassinated Taliban leader Mullah Mansour.

The family filed a complaint at Mal Moshki, in Balochistan Province, with Azam’s brother saying he was informed that his brother and his cab were destroyed in the attack, along with a passenger who turned out to be Mansour, but who was traveling with Pakistani papers that identified him as Wali Muhammad.

Pakistan has complained about the US strike violating their national sovereignty, and while under Pakistani law they’re basically obliged to field any criminal complaint in this manner, the publicizing of it is likely an additional slight at the US over the incident.

It does reflect that even this nominally “successful” US drone strike caused a civilian casualty, however, and the relative Pentagon ambivalence about killing bystanders with drone strikes into countries against which the US is not at war. The US normally ignores reports of civilian deaths by not taking credit for the strike, but cannot do so after hyping their “success” in this case.

Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz