A Pakistani journalist has sued the U.S. government saying that the CIA is responsible for the deaths of his brother and son who were killed in a drone attack on his home in December 2009.
Karim Khan says his brother Asif Iqbal and 16-year-old son Zainullah Khan had no links to terrorist groups and were innocently killed by the U.S., similar to dozens of other victims in recent years, adding that CIA drone operations would only fuel hate and help to create more terrorists.
“They tell the whole world that they are killing terrorists in drone strikes, but in fact, they are killing innocent people,” Khan told Al Jazeera. Khan’s son was still a high school student and his brother was a teacher who had studied modern languages.
The case was filed in a Pakistani court, but took six years to be registered, said Khan’s legal team, who also pointed to the Pakistan government’s negligence in its handling of the situation.
At least 1,927 people have been killed by drones since 2009 in Pakistan alone, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. At least 249 of those killed were civilians. The Obama administration has been heavily criticized for its reliance on the unmanned drones in conflict zones around the Middle East.