Tory MP questions civilian drone deaths in Commons

Mr Chishti launched a Westminster debate to protest against civilian deaths from drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The Gillingham Tory MP quoted estimates that up to 885 civilians had been killed by US drones in Pakistan.

He demanded to know how many civilians had died as a result of the deployment of British drones in Afghanistan.

Former Lib Dem defence minister Nick Harvey intervened in the debate to declare: "I think we should be very proud and very pleased with the part that remotely piloted aircraft are playing in our campaign in Afghanistan."

It would be a bad mistake to suggest that these weapons were "inherently evil," he insisted.

However, Mr Chishti was supported by Bolton Labour MP Yasmin Qureshi, who reported that she had been told by distressed constituents of the terrible effect of drone attacks on relatives in Pakistan.

"Thousands and thousands of people have died in Pakistan," she said, and thousands of lives had also been lost in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Philip Dunne said that 349 "precision guided weapons" had been fired since the armed Reaper drones had been deployed by British forces in Afghanistan.

He claimed that the only incident involving civilian casualties had been in March 2011, when four civilians had died in a strike on two trucks carrying explosives. This was "highly regrettable," he said.

The minister insisted that British-operated Reapers had never been used in Pakistan.

But they were vitally important to the "success of our mission" in Afghanistan.