Pakistani Provincial Govt: End Drone Strikes or We’ll Block NATO Supplies

All Strikes Must Stop by November 20

Anti-drone party Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI), the ruling party of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah (KP) Province, has set an ultimatum of November 20 for all US drone strikes to end against the neighboring tribal areas.

The PTI resolution says that if the strikes don’t end by November 20, they will stop all NATO supplies from traveling through their province, meaning the Khyber Pass will be effectively closed to them.

There was initially talk of imposing an immediate blockade, but PTI leader Imran Khan’s resolution is meant to pressure Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to do something to end the strikes.

Though Sharif has come out against shutting down the supply lines, since the US has just renewed massive aid to the Pakistani government, he was also elected on a promise of ending the drone strikes, and it will be difficult for him to try to stop a provincial government from taking action to make a serious effort to end the strikes.

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.