Pakistan’s Military Moves Against Anti-Drone Rally

Troops Block Convoy From Reaching South Waziristan

The Pakistani military has moved against the Pakistani Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) march today in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah Province, preventing them from entering the South Waziristan Agency as they had initially planned.

A PTI official familiar with the incident says party leader Imran Khan was briefly detained by the military, and that the troops had threatened to fire on any demonstrators who tried to cross into South Waziristan.

Instead, the convoy changed its course, ending up in the city of Tank for their final speeches condemning the ongoing US drone strikes against Pakistan’s tribal areas, promising to continue to speak out against the attacks.

The Pakistani government had initially tried to scare the rally away from South Waziristan by claiming there were going to be terrorist attacks, but when they refused to stop the march the military just claimed they didn’t have legal permission to enter the tribal areas.

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.