Pakistan’s Burraq Drone Kills Three Militants, Officials Say

By Qasim Nauman

ISLAMABAD—An indigenously-developed drone killed three militants in Pakistan on Monday, marking the first use of the missile-firing aircraft in combat, the military said.

One of Pakistan’s Burraq drones, which carry two laser-guided Barq air-to-ground missiles, hit a suspected militant target, killing three people, in the North Waziristan tribal region near the border with Afghanistan, military officials said.

“1st ever use of Pak made Burraq Drone today. Hit a terrorist compound in Shawal Valley killing 3 high profile terrorists,” Major Gen. Asim Bajwa, the military spokesman, said in a message on his verified Twitter account.

The casualties in the Monday drone strike couldn't be independently verified as access to the area is restricted.

Before the drone strike on Monday, the U.S. and Israel were among the few countries to have ever used armed drones in combat, according to the New America Foundation, an independent Washington-based think tank.

Pakistan has been developing the drones for several years. The attack announced Monday, however, was the first time the country has admitted to using them in its battle with militant groups.

The Pakistani military has been engaged in an operation in North Waziristan for over a year trying to eliminate certain groups. The Shawal Valley is one of the last remaining pockets of militant presence in the area, military officials said.

The U.S. has been operating drones against militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas for more than a decade, with hundreds of strikes that have killed more than 2,000 people, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

While Islamabad’s official position is that the U.S. attacks are a violation of its sovereignty and counterproductive, some Pakistani officials have privately supported them in the past.

Military officials didn't immediately respond to queries about the Burraq’s range and cost or the number of them that are in service. The military successfully tested the Burraq for the first time in March this year, and said at the time it is an all-weather unmanned aerial vehicle, capable of hitting static and moving targets.

 Nauman, Qasim. "Pakistan’s Burraq Drone Kills Three Militants, Officials Say." 7 Sept. 2015. The Wall Street Journal. 7 Sept. 2015. <http://www.wsj.com/articles/pakistans-burraq-drone-kills-three-militants-officials-say-1441632088> 

The article seems to be strongly pointing at the "success" of the Pakistan's military of being able to make a drone that can fire at a specific target. The author's intention of this article seems to be to announce the advancement of Pakistan in this area with a tone that is covered in a sense of accomplishment. Although the drones can be an advantage in times of war, it can also be seen as a way that can easily lead to mass murder. This is because it stirs up the idea of merciless killing by something that does not have the human emotions which would take away the chance of people making their own choices according to their conscience. In the other hand, this article does bring out the hopes of less damage to the country that uses drones because it would require less humans for war, meaning less deaths to the country. This article strongly brings out the two sides of the different views because it stirs up the ethical issues of human killing drones. 

                Tiana Park.