[JURIST] Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif [BBC profile] on Saturday directed the Pakistan Foreign Office to contact US Ambassador Richard Hogland [official websites] to criticize US drone strikes. Sharif’s comments came hours after a drone strike in North Waziristan killed several people [BBC report]. Sharif, who was sworn into office two days ago, communicated that Pakistan disapproves [NPR report] of the drone strikes and considers them a violation of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Sharif stated it is crucial to create a joint strategy to prevent US drone strikes.

The use of drone strikes by the US has come under attack recently. Last month Chief Justice Dost Muhammad Khan of the High Court of Peshawar in Pakistan ruled that US drone strikes in the region are illegal [JURIST report]. In March Judge Merrick Garland of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit [official website] reversed a lower court opinion [opinion, PDF] that permitted the CIA [official website] to refuse to confirm or deny [JURIST report] whether it has records pertaining to the use of unmanned drones to kill suspect terrorists. Also in March US Attorney General Eric Holder wrote a letter [JURIST report] to Senator Rand Paul suggesting that a drone strike on US soil would be legal only in extraordinary circumstances, following a lengthy filibuster by the senator in the confirmation of John Brennan as CIA director.