Calls for Mourning, Revenge After Massive US Drone Strike

Pakistan to Boycott Upcoming Talks Over Civilian Toll

Tribal elders have announced a three day period of mourning in the wake of a Thursday US drone strike which killed over 40 people, mostly civilians, in North Waziristan Agency. The strike hit a tribal jirga for a tribe allied with the Pakistani government.

The deaths have sparked a major new crisis in US-Pakistan relations, which are still reeling for the Raymond Davis fiasco of the past month and a half. The Pakistani government summoned the US ambassador to demand an apology, but no such apology appears to be forthcoming.

But some tribal leaders aren’t waiting on an apology anyhow, instead promising revenge against the US for the drone strike, one of the largest in years in the region. In the statement by local elders, they promised to get revenge even if they have to “wait 100 years” and that they will never forgive the US for the killings.

A more immediate impact is that the Pakistani government has announced that it will boycott the talks scheduled for later this months on security in Afghanistan. Though Pakistan has cooperated with past US drone strikes and mostly shrugged them off, the popular outcry appears to have grown beyond their ability to ignore it.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.