"For the past three years, Noor Behram has hurried to the site of drone strikes in his native Waziristan. His purpose: to photograph and document the impact of missiles fired by pilotless American "drone" aircraft, controlled by pilots holding a joystick thousands of miles away, on US air force bases in Nevada and elsewhere. The drones are America's only weapon for hunting al-Qaida and the Taliban in what is supposed to be the most dangerous place in the world.
Often arriving on the scene just minutes after hearing the explosion of a missile, he first has to put his camera aside and start digging through the debris to see if there are any survivors. It's dangerous, unpleasant work. The drones frequently hit the same place again, a few minutes after the first strike, so looking for the injured is risky. There are other dangers too: the militants are suspicious of anyone with a camera, as are locals. After all, it is a local network of spies working for the CIA that are directing the targets for the drone strike.
But Behram says his painstaking work has uncovered an important – and unreported – truth about the US drone campaign in Pakistan's tribal region: that far larger numbers of civilians are dying and sustaining injuries than the Americans and Pakistanis admit. The world's media quickly reports on how many militants were killed in each drone strike. But reporters don't go to the spot, but rely on quoting unnamed Pakistani intelligence officials.
For Noor Behram, you actually have to go to the aftermath of a drone strike to try to figure out whether those killed were really extremists or ordinary folk living in Waziristan. And he's in no doubt.
"For every 10 to 15 people killed, maybe they get one militant," said Behram. "I don't go to count how many Taliban are killed. I go to count how many children, women, innocent people, are killed"...........................READ MORE
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