Drone attack ‘detrimental’ for ties with US, says Pakistan army chief

Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday the country’s army chief met with US ambassador David Hale to express Islamabad’s serious concerns over the drone strike that killed the former Taliban leader.

Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday the country’s army chief met with US ambassador David Hale to express Islamabad’s serious concerns over the drone strike that killed the former Taliban leader.

This photograph shows Pakistani local residents gathering around a destroyed vehicle hit by a drone strike in which Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Akhtar Mansour was believed to be travelling in the remote town of Ahmad Wal in Balochistan, around 160km west of Quetta. (AFP Photo)

A military statement said army chief General Raheel Sharif denounced “such acts of sovereignty violations” as “detrimental to relations and counter-productive for the ongoing peace process.”

Read: Afghan Taliban confirm Mansour’s death, appoint new leader

Sharif insisted that “Pakistan’s efforts, successes and sacrifices in fight against terrorism have been unparalleled.”

Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour was killed inside Pakistan in the drone strike on Saturday that hit his vehicle in Baluchistan province. The airstrike strained relations between Pakistan and the United States.

Read: Pakistan denounces US strike that killed Afghan Taliban chief

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan condemned the drone strike and claimed that Mansour was not an obstacle to peace talks.