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Islamabad: Pakistani soldiers practised shooting at pilotless aircraft on Friday, the military said a day after the government lodged a protest with the US ambassador over drone missile strikes in Pakistani territory.
Anti-aircraft guns and short-range surface-to-air missiles were used during the exercise conducted at a desert range near the city of Muzaffargarh in the central Pubjab province.
"The elements of Army Air Defence demonstrated their shooting skills by targeting the drones flying at different altitudes," the military said in a statement. Air defence commander Lieutenant General Ashraf Saleem praised the precision and agility of the gunners.
Pakistan is bristling over a series of missile strikes by US drones targeting Al Qaida and Taliban militants in the tribal regions along the Afghan border in recent weeks.
The US forces have carried out more than 20 such drone attacks in the last three months, reflecting US impatience over militants from Pakistan fuelling the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan and fears that Al Qaida fighters in northwest Pakistan could plan attacks in the West.
A US commando raid on September 3 led to a diplomatic storm, and there has not been any subsequent incursion by ground troops.
But the controversy over the drones flared again after the latest missile strike on Wednesday hit a target in Bannu district in North West Frontier Province, deeper inside Pakistani territory and south of the semi-autonomous Waziristan tribal region that has borne the brunt of the attacks.
Protesting the strike in Bannu during a session of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani voiced hope that the incoming US administration of President-elect Barack Obama would exercise more restraint.
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