Death by the Numbers | Sojourners

Death by the Numbers

Drone statistics
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The Predator and Reaper drones in most common use by the CIA and U.S. military carry 500-pound GPS-guided bombs or Hellfire missiles. The bombs can destroy whole neighborhoods, while Hellfire missiles are designed to explode afterhitting their target, spewing shrapnel and “incendiary pellets” to “ensure target destruction.”

10,000+     
Weaponized drones in the U.S. arsenal

493 to 527    
Covert drone strikes by CIA and the U.S. military in Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia (2002-13)

3,057 to 4,338         
Estimated total deaths by covert drone strikes

197 to 207    
Children reported killed in covert strikes

Sources: Defense Update;General Dynamics; The Guardian;The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

This appears in the July 2013 issue of Sojourners