A US drone strike in North Waziristan killed at least three people described in media reports as "militants" on Thursday, bringing the number of drone strikes in Pakistan during the Obama administration to over 300, and continuing what The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has called "the reaper presidency."
Drone strikes are extremely unpopular in Pakistan, and protesters there have rallied calling for an end to the strikes, which may have killed over 800 civilians since 2004 by some estimates.
Also on Thursday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf met with US Ambassador to Pakistan Richard Olson in Islamabad and demanded an end to drone strikes, saying they are harmful and ineffective, the Pakistan newspaper Dawn reports.
A joint study by Stanford and NYU law schools earlier this year also categorized the drone strikes as ineffective and, in fact, counterproductive, as the attacks fuel resentment by "terrorizing" the country.
Thursday's drone attack follows a Dec. 1 attack in South Waziristan, which, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported this week, marked Obama's 300th drone attack on the country. "Although the pace of strikes has slowed considerably this year, CIA attacks have struck Pakistan's tribal areas on average once every five days during Obama's first term - six times more than under George W Bush," the Bureau reports.
