4 Aug 2013

End to US drone strikes in Pakistan pledged by Kerry

1:10 pm on 4 August 2013

US Secretary of State John Kerry has has pledged to end drone strikes in Pakistan "very, very soon".

On Thursday Mr Kerry agreed to resume high-level talks over security issues. The talks were stalled after 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed by United States forces on the Afghan border in 2011.

The BBC reports CIA drone strikes have killed up to 3460 people in Pakistan since 2004. Most strikes take place in the border region of North Waziristan, which is a stronghold of al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has consistently demanded an end to the attacks, met Mr Kerry on Thursday.

"I think the programme will end as we have eliminated most of the threat and continue to eliminate it," Mr Kerry said in a television interview afterwards.