The main opposition party called Friday for parliament to meet in joint session to devise a strategy on how to deal with cross-border attacks after the latest suspected U.S. missile strike killed 12 people in northwestern Pakistan.
American forces in Afghanistan are stepping up their efforts to hit Taliban and al-Qaida militants in what they call safe havens in Pakistan's wild border regions, despite stiff protests from Islamabad.
Schlagworte
* Pakistan
* violence
* missilies
* attack
* al-Qaida
* militants
* Taliban
With the insurgency in Afghanistan intensifying, U.S. President George W. Bush secretly approved more aggressive cross-border operations in July, current and former American officials have told the AP.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali, a senior leader of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's opposition party, demanded the government convene a joint session of parliament to discuss and devise a strategy on what he called an increasing and alarming number of the U.S. strikes inside Pakistan.
„This is very serious and very concerning to us,“ he said.
Two intelligence officials told The Associated Press that missiles struck a home near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, before dawn Friday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media, said 12 people were killed and 10 injured. The identities of the casualties were not immediately clear.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai delivering a speech marking the 7th anniversary of 9/11 Bild vergrößern
FOTO: dpa
Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the revised 'War on Terror' now including Pakistan's tribal areas. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Kayani reacted by saying 'No way' to Washington's new strategy of adding boots on the ground to drones in the air
North Waziristan is part of a belt of tribally governed territory where Pakistan's government has little control. The frontier region is considered the most likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
Since Aug. 20, there have been at least seven reported missile strikes as well as a raid by helicopter-borne U.S. commandos that Pakistani officials claim killed 15 people, all civilians.
Both the U.S. military and the CIA operate drone aircraft armed with missiles of the type believed to have killed two senior al-Qaida commanders in Pakistani territory earlier this year.
Pakistani officials warn that the strikes – especially involving ground troops – will fan anti-American sentiment in the country and wreck efforts to win over moderate tribal leaders and bring economic development to the impoverished border region.
Authorities negotiated a peace deal with tribes in North Waziristan earlier this year. Similar efforts have failed or broken down in other parts of the northwest.
On Friday, army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan said 32 militants and 2 soldiers had died in the previous 24 hours in the Bajur region. Iqbal Khattak, a local government official, put the total for the 24-hour period higher, saying about 60 militants have died.
Officials say hundreds of militants have died there in a weekslong offensive into Bajur. An estimated 500,000 people have fled their homes. Officials acknowledge that civilians have been killed and villages badly damaged in the fighting.
–––
Associated Press writer Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Habib Khan in Khar and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
Suspected U.S. missile strike claims 12 lives
The main opposition party called Friday for parliament to meet in joint session to devise a strategy on how to deal with cross-border attacks after the latest suspected U.S. missile strike killed 12 people in northwestern Pakistan.
American forces in Afghanistan are stepping up their efforts to hit Taliban and al-Qaida militants in what they call safe havens in Pakistan's wild border regions, despite stiff protests from Islamabad.
Schlagworte
* Pakistan
* violence
* missilies
* attack
* al-Qaida
* militants
* Taliban
With the insurgency in Afghanistan intensifying, U.S. President George W. Bush secretly approved more aggressive cross-border operations in July, current and former American officials have told the AP.
Chaudhry Nisar Ali, a senior leader of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's opposition party, demanded the government convene a joint session of parliament to discuss and devise a strategy on what he called an increasing and alarming number of the U.S. strikes inside Pakistan.
„This is very serious and very concerning to us,“ he said.
Two intelligence officials told The Associated Press that missiles struck a home near Miran Shah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, before dawn Friday.
The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to media, said 12 people were killed and 10 injured. The identities of the casualties were not immediately clear.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai delivering a speech marking the 7th anniversary of 9/11 Bild vergrößern
FOTO: dpa
Afghan President Hamid Karzai welcomed the revised 'War on Terror' now including Pakistan's tribal areas. Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Kayani reacted by saying 'No way' to Washington's new strategy of adding boots on the ground to drones in the air
North Waziristan is part of a belt of tribally governed territory where Pakistan's government has little control. The frontier region is considered the most likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri.
Since Aug. 20, there have been at least seven reported missile strikes as well as a raid by helicopter-borne U.S. commandos that Pakistani officials claim killed 15 people, all civilians.
Both the U.S. military and the CIA operate drone aircraft armed with missiles of the type believed to have killed two senior al-Qaida commanders in Pakistani territory earlier this year.
Pakistani officials warn that the strikes – especially involving ground troops – will fan anti-American sentiment in the country and wreck efforts to win over moderate tribal leaders and bring economic development to the impoverished border region.
Authorities negotiated a peace deal with tribes in North Waziristan earlier this year. Similar efforts have failed or broken down in other parts of the northwest.
On Friday, army spokesman Maj. Murad Khan said 32 militants and 2 soldiers had died in the previous 24 hours in the Bajur region. Iqbal Khattak, a local government official, put the total for the 24-hour period higher, saying about 60 militants have died.
Officials say hundreds of militants have died there in a weekslong offensive into Bajur. An estimated 500,000 people have fled their homes. Officials acknowledge that civilians have been killed and villages badly damaged in the fighting.
–––
Associated Press writer Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail Khan, Habib Khan in Khar and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad contributed to this report.
