SC dismisses petition seeking ban on US drone strikes in Pak

Pakistan's Supreme Court Thursday dismissed a petition filed to halt US drone strikes in the country, saying the government was authorised to deal with such matters.

Raja Saad Sultan in a petition had challenged a verdict by the Peshawar High Court (PHC) which earlier rejected the case by forwarding the issue of drone strikes to the defence ministry.

A three-member apex court bench led by Chief Justice Asif Saeed Khosa upheld the PHC dismissal with observation that government of the day was authorised to deal with such matters.

The bench further said that Ministry of Defence and the government can approach the US if necessary to stop any further strikes.

The court also said that the drone strikes virtually ended, as the last such strike reportedly took place in January 2018.

The petitioner had sought directives for the government as how to deal with such attacks as according to petitioner's lawyer innocent people are killed in the drone strikes.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, minimum 430 drone strikes were carried out inside Pakistani territory since 9/11, which killed up to 4,026 people.