ISLAMABAD, Nov 27: Further upping the ante against drone attacks, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf named on Wednesday one of US embassy staff members as the CIA station chief in Islamabad and nominated him in a criminal case for killing innocent Pakistanis.

Addressing a press conference, PTI information secretary Dr Shireen Mazari accused the embassy official of running the CIA’s covert operations in Pakistan, including drone attacks.

Separately talking to Dawn, Dr Mazari said the PTI with the help of Foundation for Fundamental Rights, a non-government organisation, had managed to uncover the operations of the agency in Islamabad.

Head of the foundation Barrister Shehzad Akbar was present on the occasion. It is an organisation of local attorneys and socially active individuals working towards the advancement, protection and enforcement of fundamental human rights.

“It’s not that difficult and unusual. In the past too, elsewhere governments have had implicated CIA operatives for committing violations,” said Dr Mazari.

The PTI has accused the US government and the CIA of killing four Pakistanis in last Thursday’s drone attack on a madressah in Hangu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Dr Mazari read out the statement which she had submitted to the SHO of Tal police station in Hangu district, directly implicating the ‘CIA operative’ in the killing of four madressah students.

She said: “The CIA station chief is currently residing in and operating from the United States embassy situated in the diplomatic enclave of Islamabad and it is a clear violation of diplomatic norms and laws as a foreign mission cannot be used for any criminal activity within a sovereign state.”

According to Dr Mazari, the federal government should take necessary action to stop him from leaving the country because former CIA station chief Jonathan Banks had left Islamabad in December 2010 when his cover was blown up in a similar drone attack case. A tribesman blew up Mr Bank’s cover after he accused him in a criminal case of killing innocent people in drone attacks.

The PTI leader also nominated CIA Director John O. Brennan for what she said “committing gross offences of murder and waging a war against Pakistan as indicated in the already lodged FIR with police station in Hangu”.

She claimed in the statement that the CIA was running a clandestine spying operation throughout Pakistan, notably in KP and tribal areas, the main target area of drone attacks.

Dr Mazari also said Hameedullah, Abdullah, Abdur Rehman and Kareem Khan were innocent Pakistani students who were killed in the Hangu attack. Two members of the Haqqani network were also killed in the attack.

A spokesperson for the US embassy in Islamabad said: “We are aware of PTI’s statement. I can’t speak on alleged operational issues, but more broadly speaking I note we have a strong ongoing dialogue with Pakistan regarding all aspects of our bilateral relationship and shared interests. It is critically important that we continue to work closely with our partners throughout the world, helping to build their law enforcement capacity to carry out necessary operations in their own countries.”