Pakistan's military, civilian leaders condemn U.S. drone strike

Pakistan's top civil and military leadership on Tuesday condemned a recent U.S. drone strike in the country's southwestern Balochistan province and noted with concerns that the act has damaged diplomatic efforts for peace negotiation in Afghanistan.

The leaders met at the army's headquarters in Rawalpindi near Islamabad to review the overall national security situation, the army said.

"The meeting expressed its concern on 21 May U.S. drone strike and agreed that the action was a clear violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, affecting mutual trust, and undermined the spirit of Afghan Peace Process under mutually agreed Quadrilateral framework," said a statement issued at the conclusion of the meeting.

Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States are part of the quadrilateral framework which in its last meeting in Islamabad on May 18 had agreed that political option is the best choice to resolve the Afghan problem.

The Pakistani military and political leaders also reaffirmed the country's commitment to enduring regional peace and underlined that "hostile intelligence agencies and their facilitators will not be allowed to foment trouble inside Pakistan."

Participants of the meeting dwelt at length on various issues related to external and internal security situation of the country, a statement from the army's Inter-Services Public Relations said.

It was noted with satisfaction that successes of military operation codenamed "Zarb e Azab" had been phenomenal and it was agreed that the achievements in bringing stability in the country will have to be sustained whatever it takes. Endit