Pakistani Civilians Traumatized By Drones, US Report Finds

CIA drone attacks have traumatized Pakistani citizens and have only minimally reduced militant activity, an academic report from New York University Law School and Stanford University indicates.

Rescuers working to treat casualties are also being wounded and killed by follow-up strikes, BBCreports.

The probes from the universities revealed that although some prominent al Qaeda and Taliban members have died from the drone strikes, so have plenty of innocent civilians in the northwest region of Pakistan, Waziristan.

Drone attacks have also killed hundreds in Afghanistan and Yemen in addition to Pakistan- resulting in foreign frustration with the US military.

The report calls to evaluate the results from the drone attacks:

“Real threats to U.S. security and to Pakistani civilians exist in the Pakistani border areas now targeted by drones. It is crucial that the U.S. be able to protect itself from terrorist threats and that the great harm caused by terrorists to Pakistani civilians be addressed. However, in light of significant evidence of harmful impacts to Pakistani civilians and to U.S. interests, current policies to address terrorism through targeted killings and drone strikes must be carefully reevaluated.”

The US government does not comment on the drone attacks, International Business Timesreports.

Rosa Brooks, a fellow at the New America Foundation, spoke with “The World”:

“As we have seen in recent weeks over the riots in Libya and elsewhere, perception can matter as much as reality. Particularly when we’re talking about a program that remains largely covert and unacknowledged, the perceptions of the program not just in Pakistan but globally, including in allied nations, can hurt us quite badly.”