Islamabad:
Pakistan has summoned the acting US ambassador and lodged a protest over the continued CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) drone strikes in its tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, saying that the attacks were "unlawful" and a violation of the country's sovereignty.
US Charge d'Affairs Richard Hoagland was called to the Foreign Ministry and "officially conveyed the government's serious concern regarding drone strikes in Pakistani territory", an official statement said.
Pakistan's parliament has "emphatically stated that (the drone strikes) were unacceptable" and that they "represented a clear red-line for Pakistan", the statement added.
The US has carried out eight drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt since a crucial NATO Summit on Afghanistan that ended in Chicago on May 21. The attack on Monday killed 15 militants in Pakistan's turbulent northwest.
The US intensified the drone campaign shortly after Pakistan did not make any announcement at the summit about ending a six-month blockade of supply routes to Afghanistan.
The supply lines were shut after a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year.
Most of the drone strikes were carried out in the North Waziristan, though a few attacks focussed on South Waziristan, where the Pakistan Army conducted an operation to flush out the Taliban three years ago.
Pakistan has repeatedly criticised the drone strikes, calling them counter-productive. .
US Charge d'Affairs Richard Hoagland was called to the Foreign Ministry and "officially conveyed the government's serious concern regarding drone strikes in Pakistani territory", an official statement said.
Pakistan's parliament has "emphatically stated that (the drone strikes) were unacceptable" and that they "represented a clear red-line for Pakistan", the statement added.
The US has carried out eight drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal belt since a crucial NATO Summit on Afghanistan that ended in Chicago on May 21. The attack on Monday killed 15 militants in Pakistan's turbulent northwest.
The US intensified the drone campaign shortly after Pakistan did not make any announcement at the summit about ending a six-month blockade of supply routes to Afghanistan.
The supply lines were shut after a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November last year.
Most of the drone strikes were carried out in the North Waziristan, though a few attacks focussed on South Waziristan, where the Pakistan Army conducted an operation to flush out the Taliban three years ago.
Pakistan has repeatedly criticised the drone strikes, calling them counter-productive. .
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