Pakistan arrested American who was killed by drone

Published 10:11 am Thursday, May 23, 2013

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An American citizen killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in 2011 was arrested by Pakistani authorities three years earlier but escaped after being released on bail, officials said Thursday.

The Obama administration revealed Wednesday that Jude Kenan Mohammad died in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan’s tribal region, making him the fourth American citizen killed by unmanned aircraft in Pakistan and Yemen. The confirmation came as President Barack Obama is expected to deliver a speech in Washington on Thursday that will focus in large part on the administration’s expanded use of drones to kill hundreds of people in those two countries and other places where terrorists have taken refuge.

U.S. officials didn’t provide details, but Pakistani security officials said Mohammad was killed in late 2011 in Pakistan’s South Waziristan tribal area.

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