Washington: The Obama administration has sharply curtailed drone strikes in Pakistan after a request from the government there for restraint as it pursues peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban, according to U.S. officials.
A report in the Washington Post citing US officials, says that drone strikes on Pakistan have been drastically curtailed after a request from Islamabad as the country is set to hold peace talks with the Taliban, which was scheduled to begin yesterday but was delayed.
“That’s what they asked for, and we didn’t tell them no,” the Washington Post quoted a US official.
However, the report added that the US would continue to strike top al Qaeda targets and those who posed a direct threat to Americans.
The report comes just a day after the peace talks between Pakistan and Taliban were delayed. The delay in the peace talks came as the government negotiators failed to show up, sparking criticism from Taliban negotiators.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) had formed its negotiating team and had waited entire day on Tuesday for the government representatives to arrive, but in vain, a BBC report quoted Taliban negotiator Professor Ibrahim as saying.
The Taliban blamed the government for the delay, the report added.
Meanwhile, a member from the government side said that the delay occurred as they were waiting for the Taliban to clarify identities of their negotiating team.
However, the clarifications over their identities had been received now and the talks were expected to start in a couple of days, government negotiator and veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai said.
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