Death toll from drone strikes have been inflated

The Associated Press has released a report shedding light on the actual number of deaths from U.S. drone strikes. The report says that right-wing political groups, clerics, and militants are falsely leading Pakistan citizens to believe drones are killing more civilians than is actually true. This is from an on-the-ground Associated Press investigation.

Reporters spoke to approximately 80 villiagers in an area of Pakistan, typically a hotbed sancturary for militants, that was the location of 10 recent attacks. Villagers informed the reporters that of 194 casualties, at least 138 were militants. Even though 70 percent of casualties were enemy combatants it’s still the widspread perception of mass civilian deaths fueling anti-American feelings.

That strike aside, which was the largest amount of civilian deaths in single strike since the drone program began, villagers told reporters 90 percent of deaths were militants.