To show solidarity with the people of Waziristan in Pakistan, who have experienced and been victims of US drone strikes, thousands of Pakistanis marched in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan led the march. Thirty-one American peace activists affiliated with CODEPINK participated in the march as well.

The motorcade, which left Islamabad on October 6, took a route that ended in Dera Ismail Khan (DIK) on the first day. There was a rally in DIK at the end of this phase of the march. Then, on October 7, the motorcade continued onward and passed through Tank, a city nearby Waziristan, where tens of thousands of people met the march as it arrived.

Over thirty American activists traveled to Pakistan to draw attention to US drone strike policy. The delegation has joined a historic two-day peace march from the nation’s capital Islamabad to the village of Kotkai in South Waziristan, where a major rally is to be held. It left on Friday, October 6.

This is not a march where tens of thousands of people come out into the streets for some hours in the day and then disappear after walking a couple miles. The march with Americans from the peace activist group CODEPINK is the first attempt of thousands of people to reach the tribal areas of Pakistan, which are typically off-limits to non-residents. It happens to be backed by Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI), a political party in Pakistan, whose chief, Imran Khan, a former cricket star, is said to be leading the march.