[Iran Press TV Latest] A Pakistani minister has warned the United States that Islamabad will not allow strikes on suspected pro-Taliban hideouts in the troubled Balochistan Province. "America will never make the mistake of drone strikes in Balochistan," said Aslam Raisani, chief minister of the province.
The minister also noted that such attacks can fuel anti-American sentiments across the troubled region.
"Any type of American attack will have serious implications. I hope America will not make this mistake - such attacks would harm the American interests in the area and there may be a public reaction against any such attack," the AFP news agency quoted Raisani as saying.
The development came after the US Ambassador to Islamabad Anne Patterson said the 'Quetta Shura' (Quetta Council) was now high on her government's list of priority targets.
"In the past, we focused on al-Qaeda because they were a threat to us. The Quetta Shura mattered less to us because we had no troops in the region," she said. "Now our troops are there on the other side of the border, and the Quetta Shura is high on Washington's list," she said in an interview with Washington Post .
The council operates around the southern Pakistani city of Quetta. It is said to be led by the Taliban's reclusive chief Mullah Omar who is running his 'shadow government' in Afghanistan.
However, Pakistani officials reject the US allegations and say Washington overstates the threat posed by the Taliban leadership council in Quetta.
Since August 2008, nearly 70 attacks by US unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have killed more than 550 people in the restive northwestern region of Pakistan.