White House official defends terror drone strikes

In a speech on counterterrorism "ethics" on Monday, John Brennan insisted the program was legal, ethical, proportional, and saved US lives, AFP reported.

"Broadly speaking, the debate over strikes targeted at individual members of al-Qaeda has centered on their legality, their ethics, the wisdom of using them, and the standards by which they are approved," Brennan said in a lecture at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

"The United States government conducts targeted strikes against specific al-Qaeda terrorists, sometimes using remotely piloted aircraft, often referred to publicly as drones," he added.

He went on to say that the US Constitution allows the president to protect the nation from any imminent threat or attack.

The US 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 US President George W. Bush but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.

The US resumed its drone operations in Pakistan in recent weeks after it halted the strikes in November 2011, when 24 Pakistani soldiers were killed in NATO airstrikes at two checkpoints on the Afghan border.

The airstrikes sparked angry protests across Pakistan.

In response to the attack, Islamabad closed the border crossings used to transfer NATO supplies into landlocked Afghanistan and ordered all US personnel to vacate a remote airfield in Balochistan province that was used to launch drone attacks.