Pakistan Issues New Condemnation After U.S. Drone Strike

A U.S. Predator unmanned drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac of the Kandahar military airport in Afghanistan.

Pakistan has issued a fresh condemnation of U.S. drone strikes after an attack by an unmanned aircraft killed three suspected militants in northwest Pakistan.

The April 29 strike was the first since the Pakistani parliament two weeks ago demanded that Washington halt such missile attacks.

A statement by Pakistan's Foreign Office on April 30 said that "such attacks are in total contravention of international law and established norms of interstate relations."

U.S. officials maintain that the drone strikes are a valuable tool in the battle against extremists in the Pakistani-Afghan border zone.

The issue is among several that have contributed to the deterioration of ties between Washington and Islamabad in the past year.

With reporting by AFP