Mounting hatred for US in Pakistan

Afghanistan News.Net
Sunday 7th September, 2008

The Pakistan Ambassador to the United States, Hussain Haqqani, has told reporters that unilateral actions by US forces in Pakistani territory will not help to the war against terror, but will spark fury among the people.

He underscored the need to help the Pakistani people understand the US actions, which were currently breeding hatred in his country.

On Wednesday, US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan carried out a pre-dawn helicopter-borne raid that killed at least 20 people in a village in South Waziristan.

The government has warned that such actions could endanger Pakistan's cooperation with the coalition forces and added that Pakistan has set up to 1000 check posts along its border with Afghanistan to check movement of militants.

Pakistan’s military has claimed that there was no known terrorist in the area when the US-led coalition forces attacked the tribal area and killed innocent people including women and children.

Reacting to the attack, General Tariq Majid, the Chairman of Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee said Pakistan reserved the right to retaliate against unilateral attacks by coalition forces from Afghanistan.

He said the cross-border strikes would only alienate locals.

During the week, Pakistan's Senate adopted a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the latest cross-border attack.

The resolution mentioned that the raid undermined the basic norms of international law.

The Senate resolution further said that any incursion inside the Pakistani territory and resulting loss of innocent lives was unacceptable and the matter would be taken up strongly with member countries of the International Security Assistance Force; the coalition group in Afghanistan.

The Senate called upon the government of Pakistan to take all necessary measures to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and repel such attacks in the future with full force.

Meanwhile, US military officials have reportedly said that strikes in Pakistan's cross-border tribal areas will increase in the coming months, in an effort to counter increasing violence in Afghanistan.

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