The Obama administration is preparing to release a report on overseas casualties, although it remains to be seen what data will be included or left out. The secrecy that necessarily surrounded it—virtually all Pakistan strikes have been conducted by the CIA and are considered covert actions—limited the ways in which they could defend it. Independent counts of civilian deaths in individual operations are zero or in low single digits, far reduced from previous years tallies. While acknowledging that some civilian casualties had occurred, they said that claims of hundreds or more deaths by non-government organizations have been wildly inaccurate. When the administration announced its new rules for counterterrorism, it said they went beyond those required by law.

Source: thestar May 22, 2016 20:22 UTC