WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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WORLD> Asia-Pacific
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Pakistan orders troops to open fire if US raids
(Agenices)
Updated: 2008-09-16 23:16 However, it insists it is doing what it can and paying a heavy price, pointing to its deployment of more than 100,000 troops in its increasingly restive northwest and a wave of suicide bombings across the country. After talks Tuesday with British officials in London, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said he did not "think there will be any more" cross-border raids by the US He declined to comment on the order to use lethal force against American troops. Instead, he and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a joint statement saying Afghanistan and Pakistan should lead the efforts to battle border militancy. The joint statement left out any mention of the United States. American officials have confirmed their forces carried out the Sept. 3 raid near the town of Angoor Ada but given few details of what happened. Abbas said that Pakistan's military had asked for an explanation but received only a "half-page" of "very vague" information that failed to identify the intended target. Pakistani officials have said the raid killed about 15 people, and Abbas said they all appeared to be civilians. "These were truck drivers, local traders and their families," he said. How to reverse a surge in Taliban violence in Afghanistan has become a major issue in the US presidential campaign and refocused attention on the porous border with Pakistan. Pakistan's military has won American praise for a six-week offensive against militants in the Bajur tribal region that officials here say has killed 700 suspected insurgents and about 40 troops. Troops backed by warplanes killed eight more alleged militants Tuesday, officials said. In the same timeframe, there has been a surge in missile strikes apparently carried out by unmanned US drones. Such attacks killed at least two senior al-Qaida commanders earlier this year. Abbas did not say when exactly the orders for Pakistani troops to open fire to prevent cross-border raids by US troops were issued. He wouldn't discuss whether Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who replaced Musharraf as army chief last year, personally took the decision or if the orders had been discussed with American officials. The spokesman also played down suggestions that the instructions had been put into practice before dawn on Monday, when US helicopters reportedly landed near Angoor Ada only to fly away after troops fired warning shots. Abbas insisted no foreign troops had crossed the border and that "trigger-happy tribesmen" had fired the shots. Pakistani troops based nearby fired flares to see what was going on, he said. The US military in Afghanistan said none of its troops were involved. In a rare public statement last week, Kayani said Pakistan's sovereignty would be defended "at all cost." Abbas said Pakistani officials had to consider public opinion, which is skeptical of American goals in the region and harbors sympathy for rebels fighting in the name of Islam. "Please look at the public reaction to this kind of adventure or incursion," Abbas said. "The army is also an extension of the public and you can only satisfy the public when you match your words with your actions." |
