US draws up guidebook for targeted-killing operations
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Buy SPH photosWASHINGTON (AFP) - The administration of President Barack Obama is completing a counterterrorism manual that will establish clear rules for targeted-killing operations, The Washington Post reported late on Saturday.
But citing unnamed United States officials, the newspaper said the guidebook would contain a major exemption for the CIA's campaign of drone strikes in Pakistan.
This exemption will allow the Central Intelligence Agency to continue striking Al-Qaeda and Taleban targets in Pakistan for a year or more before the agency is forced to comply with more stringent rules spelled out in the document, the report said.
According to the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism, between 2,627 and 3,457 people have been reportedly killed by US drones in Pakistan since 2004, including between 475 and nearly 900 civilians.
