SINGAPORE, June 3: Canada on Sunday defended the use of military drone attacks, saying technological advances have reduced the likelihood of civilian casualties.

Unmanned systems have proved their effectiveness in the decade-long US-led war in Afghanistan and also in Nato strikes in Libya last year, Canadian Defence Minister Peter Gordon MacKay said.

“The use of drones has been referenced a number of times, and it all depends on the accuracy of the system,” Mr MacKay told an Asian security summit.

“These eyes-on systems that can literally read a license plate from outer space have increased our ability to decrease civilian casualties.”

“We want to reduce if not eliminate collateral damage,” he said at the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore.

US drone attacks in Pakistan are a key tactic in the campaign against Al Qaeda and its Taliban supporters.

The covert CIA-run programme is a cause of tension between the US and Pakistan. Pakistani public resents the strikes, which are considered an affront to the nation’s sovereignty and largely killing innocent civilians.

The US has fired scores of missiles into northwest Pakistan since 2008, targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban operatives there.

Canada has participated in the military operations in Afghanistan and Libya.

Mr MacKay also urged countries to share intelligence and technology to battle cyber attacks that shut down energy, communications and transport infrastructures.—AP