A number of political and religious leaders joined the sit-in on Sunday, demanding the government to stop the unauthorized US drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal areas. They also demanded that the Pakistani supply route to the US-led forces in war-ravaged Afghanistan be blocked.
Pakistani opposition leader Imran Khan, who organized the protest, said that the sit-in would continue from Saturday afternoon to Sunday evening “continuously to block the trucks carrying NATO supplies" to Afghanistan.
He added that the sit-in had been organized to deliver a clear message to the US that Washington is openly violating the national and international laws through drone attacks.
"Stop drone strikes or we will block NATO supplies to Afghanistan," he warned. He went on to say that, although Pakistan is an independent country, its people are facing circumstances much worse than the conditions at the time of slavery and colonization of the country.
Islamabad has repeatedly criticized the unauthorized US drone attacks in Pakistan as violations of the Asian country's sovereignty.
On Sunday, Pakistan blocked a vital supply route to the US-led forces in Afghanistan hours after 16 people were killed in a Friday blast in Khyber tribal region on the border with Afghanistan.
On September 30, 2010, Pakistan closed a key border crossing to NATO supply trucks for 10 days in retaliation for the surge in the US cross-border aerial attacks.
During the closure of the route, militants intensified their attacks on NATO trucks and oil tankers, torching dozens of the vehicles.
However, the September move against the US-led forces did not stop the United States military from carrying out its non-UN-sanctioned attacks inside the Pakistani territory.
Washington claims the air strikes target militants. However, according to numerous figures, the attacks have killed hundreds of civilians in Pakistan since 2008.
/106
