AP file photo
The U.S. Is Curbing Drones Strikes in Pakistan
The United States has not performed a drone strike in the country since last year.
According to The Washington Post, the United States has substantially decreased the frequency of drone strikes in Pakistan after the Pakistani government requested exercising caution while they negotiated with the Taliban. The United States has not performed a drone strike in the country since last year.
In November, Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike only days before peace talks between the Taliban and Pakistani officials were to begin. The Pakistani government accused America of trying to sabotage the proceedings.
One senior official told the Post that the U.S. is "continuing to aggressively identify and disrupt terrorist threats … Reports that we have agreed to a different approach in support of Pakistani peace talks are wrong." The six-week lull might say otherwise—January was the first full month without a drone strike since December 2011.
Back in August, Secretary of State John Kerry said of ending the program, "I think the president has a very real timeline and we hope it’s going to be very, very soon."