No US drone strike in Pakistan since May 2016

PESHAWAR: There has been no drone strike by the US in Pakistan since May 21, 2016.This is one of the longest periods that no US drone attack has taken place in Pakistan.

The May 21, 2015 drone strike was the first one in Balochistan. It killed the Afghan Taliban supreme leader Mulla Akhtar Mohammad Mansoor, who was reportedly returning to Quetta after a secret visit to Iran.

The drone strikes by the US under the supervision of the CIA in Pakistan began in 2004. According to the London-based Bureau of Investigation, there have been 424 drone attacks in Pakistan to-date. It said these attacks killed a total of 2,499 to 4,001 persons including 424 to 966 civilians.

The US is also carrying out drone attacks in Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia. Nowadays the highest number of US drone strikes is being conducted in Afghanistan.  There were 15 such strikes in Afghanistan in January 2017 alone.