Life under drones
(mohammad abdullah, karachi)
Last week, Amnesty
International released a report on U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, concluding
that as many as 900 civilians might have been killed and 600 seriously injured
in the attacks since 2004, when the controversial program began.
The United States launched between 330 to 374 drone strikes in Pakistan between
2004 and September 2013, according to the report. And those strikes have created
a culture of fear on the ground.
"I wasn't scared of drones before," Nabeela, an 8-year-old whose grandmother,
Mamana Bibi, was killed by a 2012 drone strike, says in the report. "But now
when they fly overhead I wonder, 'Will I be next?'"
Nabeela is not alone.
A new documentary, "Wounds of Waziristan," reveals the story of drones as told
by the people who live under them.
"There is an entire generation that has grown up under the eye of the drones,"
director Madiha Tahir said in a recent interview. "People tell me there are
multiple drones that hover during the day, but they tend to usually strike at
night. You never know when they are going to strike, and that has created an
incredible amount of psychological stress."