A senior Pakistani intelligence official says U.S. personnel operating drones from a Pakistan base, have quietly left the country.

Officially the U.S. is not operating drones out of Pakistani bases,  but Pakistani intelligence has been saying, for a while now, they the U.S. is indeed using Pakistani bases for drone attacks.

Supposedly U.S. drones use Pakistan’s Shamsi Air Base.

Carl Forsberg, research analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, says it’s possible the Pakistanis are using pressure on the United States.

Drone attacks kill more civilians than terrorists. The latest attack, last Friday, killed 25 people, including five women and three children: “Drone attacks have become a core irritant in the counter terror campaign. We have repeatedly said that such attacks are counterproductive and only contribute to strengthen the hands of the terrorists.”-Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Perhaps the U.S. drone operators left, because they are now needed in Libya?