Pakistan says drone strikes killed only 67 civilians since 2008

[Recursion]

EDIT: I had previously said "Pakistani government", but it's just the Pakistani defense department.

In case anyone has any lingering doubts about where the Pakistani defense establishment stands on this:

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2013/10/31/pakistan-report-saysonly3percentofdronedeathswerecivilians.html

The Pakistani government released a report Wednesday that found only 67 (3 percent) of the 2,227 people it says were killed in U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were civilians -- a surprisingly low figure that has sparked criticism from groups that have investigated deaths from the attacks.

The figure, which was provided by Pakistan's Ministry of Defense to the country's Senate, is much lower than past government calculations and estimates by independent organizations that have placed the number as high as 300.

The ministry said in its report that 317 drone strikes had taken place since 2008 (PDF), killing 2,160 "terrorists" and 67 civilians, referred to in the report as "shaheeds," or martyrs.

The Pakistani government said 21 civilians were killed in 2008, nine in 2009, two in 2010 and 35 in 2011. But the report said that no civilians were killed in 2012 and so far in 2013.

Also, from WaPo: Pakistan says 3 percent of US drone deaths since 2008 were civilians; rights groups disagree

The Pakistani government said Wednesday that 3 percent of 2,227 people killed in U.S. drone strikes since 2008 were civilians, a surprisingly low figure that sparked criticism from groups that have investigated deaths from the attacks.

The number, which was provided by the Ministry of Defense to the Senate, is much lower than past government calculations and estimates by independent organizations that have gone as high as 300. The ministry said 317 drone strikes have killed 2,160 Islamic militants and 67 civilians since 2008.

The attacks, which mainly target suspected Islamic militants near the northwestern border with Afghanistan, are widely unpopular in Pakistan because they are viewed as violating the country’s sovereignty and killing too many civilians. The Pakistani government regularly criticizes the drone program in public, even though it is known to have secretly supported at least some of the strikes in the past.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pressed President Barack Obama to end the attacks in a visit to the White House last week, but the U.S. considers the attacks vital to its battle against al-Qaida and the Taliban and gave no indication it was willing to abandon them.