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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistan: Cross-border raid may signal more attacks, say US officials |
| 2008-09-06 |
| (AKI/DAWN) - While the Bush administration has refused to comment on a raid that killed 20 people in Pakistan this week, unnamed American officials confirmed US troops were behind the attack and signalled there may be more. "In regards to the reports about that incident, we have not commented, and I won't today," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters on Thursday. "I'm just not going to comment on the incident in any way." Anonymous officials warned that the United States might conduct similar raids in future if it had "actionable intelligence" about the presence of Al-Qaeda or Taliban commanders in a certain area. The raid followed growing American frustration that Pakistan was not doing enough to combat militants operating in the shared border area. US Secretary Condoleezza Rice made almost identical comments, saying: "I don't have anything for you on Pakistan except to say that, obviously, we are working very closely with the civilian government there, the newly democratically elected, civilian government." Unnamed Pentagon officials told the media that US Special Forces had conducted the raid, focusing on a specific target in South Waziristan. The officials also emphasised Washington's desire to destroy militant safe havens in Pakistan's tribal areas. The officials said that the decision to send US ground troops inside Pakistan marked a return to tactics used by the American military soon after the Afghanistan invasion. In Washington, Pakistan Embassy conveyed Islamabad's concern to "the highest levels of the State Department," embassy sources said. "Unilateral actions that enraged the Pakistani people will not help the US and NATO in the war against terror," Ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, told Pakistani daily, Dawn. "For the war effort to succeed, cooperative arrangements between Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nato need to be strengthened, instead of actions violating the sovereignty of an American ally and partner." At the White House, spokeswoman Perino stressed the need to "increase coordination and cooperation" between Pakistan and the US-led forces. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #2 I hope so. Pakiland has let this area fester for too long. Paskistan is what's wrong with Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2008-09-06 14:48 |
| #1 See WAFF.com > BARACK OBAMA CLAIMS PAKISTAN USING US AID TO PLOT WAR AGZ INDIA; + TOPIX > APOCALYPSE NOW: US EXPANDING AFGHAN GROUND WAR INTO PAKISTAN? |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-09-06 00:45 |