NATO Forces in Afghanistan Accused of Raid in Pakistan

[Princess Royal]

NATO Forces in Afghanistan Accused of Raid in Pakistan
By ZAHID HUSSAIN in Islamabad and YOCHI J. DREAZEN in Washington

September 4, 2008

Pakistan accused U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan of leading a cross-border raid into a Pakistani village that killed 20 people, including women and children, an allegation that will further heighten tensions between the two allies.

The alleged raid came on a chaotic day that also included a failed attack on the motorcade of Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani. Pakistani officials said suspected Islamic militants fired shots at vehicles sent to pick up Mr. Gilani at the airport. The Pakistani leader wasn't in his car at the time.

The two events, hundreds of miles apart, came ahead of elections Saturday that are expected to install Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of slain former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, in the presidency. Mr. Zardari's supporters dominate the electoral college that selects the president. He will replace President Pervez Musharraf, who resigned last month.

Mr. Musharraf strongly supported U.S. counterterrorism operations in the region. American officials are more wary of Mr. Zardari, whose party has talked about pursuing peace talks with the Islamic militants operating from bases inside Pakistan's lawless tribal regions. That area is believed by U.S. officials to be a safe haven for al Qaeda and Taliban militants who attack American and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces across the border in Afghanistan.

In the purported raid before dawn Thursday, NATO forces flew on helicopters into the remote village of Musa Nikow in Pakistan's South Waziristan border area, said Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, Pakistan's chief military spokesman. The raid, if confirmed, would mark the first time that NATO troops had crossed into Pakistani territory in search of Islamic militants.

NATO denied sending forces into Pakistan. An official with NATO's International Security Assistance Force said such troops operate only in Afghanistan.

Lt. Col. Rumi Nelson-Green, a spokeswoman for the American military in Afghanistan, said she had no information about the alleged raid.

Villagers said several bodies, shot through the head, lay outside homes targeted by the troops. An independent Pakistani television station, ARY TV, quoted residents as saying two foreign soldiers were wounded in an exchange of fire with villagers.

The incident occurred after Pakistani authorities earlier this week suspended military operations against Islamist militants during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"It is outrageous," said Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of North West Frontier Province, in a statement. "This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of Pakistan."

Pakistan is concerned that U.S. military operations are becoming more aggressive along the Afghanistan border. U.S. and NATO officials, in response, say Pakistan needs to do more to police the area.

U.S. troops in Afghanistan are suffering more attacks and fatalities. More U.S. troops now die in Afghanistan each month than in Iraq. Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, paid an unannounced visit to Pakistan in July to press Islamabad to crack down on the border areas.

The U.S. military has been carrying out a growing number of aerial strikes on suspected militant targets inside Pakistan. Most of the strikes have involved missiles fired from unmanned aerial drones.

In June, Pakistan said that an American airstrike along the border killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary security personnel. U.S. officials initially said that all of the dead were Islamic militants but later agreed to a formal joint investigation into the incident.



Source: The Wall Street Journal.