U.S. officials have said that Washington will continue its non-UN-sanctioned CIA assassination drone strikes in Pakistan, rebuffing Pakistani MPs’ demands that the deadly attacks be halted.
 
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Friday that if a target is detected by the CIA's unmanned aerial vehicles, its hellfire missiles will take the shot.
 
On Thursday, Pakistan's parliament unanimously approved new guidelines for ties with the United States. The guidelines demand an end to U.S. assassination drone strikes on Pakistani territory.
 
In 2008, the Pakistani parliament also passed a resolution demanding that the U.S. stop the drone strikes but the CIA continued to conduct the attacks in the country’s tribal belt.
 
The recommendations, which were drafted by the Parliamentary Committee on National Security (PCNS), also called for an unconditional apology for US-led airstrikes in November that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two mountain posts near the Afghan border.
 
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told parliament that his government would implement the guidelines in “letter and spirit.”
 
“Our partnership cannot be at the cost of our sovereignty or territorial integrity. We want to proactively engage with our international partners. Our resolve to combat extremism and terrorism remains unshakeable,” he said.
 
In addition, PCNS Chairman Raza Rabbani, who presented the recommendations, told parliament that relations with the U.S. must be based on mutual respect for national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
 
The U.S. regularly uses unmanned aircraft for attacks on Pakistan's tribal regions, claiming the airstrikes target al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, but locals say civilians are the main victims of the assaults.
 
The aerial attacks were initiated by former U.S. President George W. Bush but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.
 
The U.S. resumed its drone operations in Pakistan in January 2012 after it halted the strikes in November 2011.
 
(Source: Press TV)