US Denies Pakistan Drone Attack, Islamabad Maintains it Did

A day after three suspected members of the Haqqani Network were reported killed in a United States drone attacks, the US embassy in Islamabad denied the attack.

However, the Pakistan Foreign Office reiterated its claim that the drone attack did take place.

On Wednesday, Pakistan condemned what it said was a US military drone strike inside its territory. The unmanned aircraft’s missiles “targeted an Afghan refugee” camp in northwestern Kurram region, an international news agency reported, citing a statement from the Pakistani foreign office.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal, in a statement, said such unilateral actions are detrimental to the spirit of cooperation between the two countries in the fight against terrorism.

The suspected US drone attack on a house in northwestern Pakistan killed two militants from the Afghan Taliban-allied Haqqani network, two Pakistani security officials said earlier.

But in a statement released by a US Embassy spokesperson, “The claim in an MFA statement yesterday that US forces struck an Afghan refugee camp in Kurram Agency yesterday is false”.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement: "Pakistan has continued to emphasise to the US the importance of sharing actionable intelligence so that appropriate action is taken against terrorists by our forces within our territory".  

It further added that the country has continued to stress on the early repatriation of Afghan refugees as their presence in Pakistan helps Afghan terrorists to "melt and morph among them". 

Drone strikes have surged in Kurram agency in the wake of US President Donald Trump's announcement of a new Afghan policy in August, in which Pakistan was also accused of offering "safe havens to agents of chaos".