Islamabad, December 11: “The Nobel prize is for those who have made achievements, but Obama is a killer,” Jabir Aftab, an engineer living in the shadow of bomb attacks in Pakistan’s city of Peshawar, said on Thursday.
As President Barack Obama conceded others “may be more deserving” of the prize, there was anger in troubled parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan where many blame the United States for a surge in violence.
“He is the president of a country which has a history of bloodshed and rises to a quarrel. How was he selected for this prize?” said 27-year-old Aftab.
Since Obama took office, US drone strikes targeting Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in Pakistan’s northwest tribal belt have increased, enraging locals who say the attacks kill civilians and violate the nation’s sovereignty.
“Drone attacks are becoming routine. It creates anger among local residents and produces more militancy,” said Aftab.
In Peshawar’s Gulberg neighbourhood, administrator Mushtaq Mohmand agreed. “Obama may be good for his nation but as an American president his reputation in this part of the world is terrible,” he said.
“Everybody knows the presence of the American army in this region is the root cause of the problems. People are dying in Afghanistan, Pakistan and in Iraq because of Obama policies,” he added.
Security in Pakistan has plummeted since Islamabad joined the US-led “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks, prompting a backlash among the Muslim population as extremists declared war on the government.
–PTI