Afghanistan has been at the epicenter of the United States’ assassination drone strikes in 2012, a new report says.

Recent statistics by the US Air Force show that Washington has carried out at least 447 drone strikes in war-torn Afghanistan so far this year.

The United States regularly uses drones for attacks and spying missions in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border among other locations.

Washington claims that the airstrikes target militants, but local sources say civilians have been the main victims of the attacks.

The figures further indicate that drone attacks account for 11.5 percent of the entire US aerial assaults in 2012, up from nearly five percent in 2011.

During the past three years, the US drone attacks had never exceeded 300 annually.

The United Nations says the US assassination drone attacks are targeted killings and violate international law.

The airstrikes were initiated under former US President George W. Bush, but have been escalated under President Barack Obama.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but insecurity remains across the country. /SR