Growing reliance on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the effort to combat militant groups has led to considerable debate about the consequences of this new mode of warfare. While critics have focused on the impact of civilian casualties on militant recruitment and the resulting use of terrorism, evidence suggests that ‘drones’ are paradoxically more effective in limiting civilian deaths compared to other forms of military force. This article demonstrates a different causal pathway connecting militant use of force to terrorist attacks. Drone strikes encourage militants to displace operations to urban centers. Confronted with unfamiliar terrain and greater government capacity, militants emphasize terrorist attacks against civilians. The article explores these dynamics in the longest running drone campaign, in Pakistan. While civilian casualties from drone strikes have no discernible effect on terrorism, strikes that kill militants increase terrorist attacks against civilians in urban settings, while failing to reduce attacks on government targets.

在打击激进组织的努力中，越来越依赖无人驾驶飞行器 (UAV)，这引发了关于这种新战争模式后果的大量辩论。虽然批评者关注平民伤亡对武装分子招募和由此产生的恐怖主义使用的影响，但有证据表明，与其他形式的军事力量相比，“无人机”在限制平民死亡方面更为有效。本文展示了将激进使用武力与恐怖袭击联系起来的不同因果关系。无人机袭击鼓励武装分子将行动转移到城市中心。面对陌生的地形和更大的政府能力，武装分子强调针对平民的恐怖袭击。本文探讨了巴基斯坦最长的无人机运动中的这些动态。