Unilateral US strikes in Pak won't help war against terror: Pak envoy to US

Washington, Sept 6 : Pakistan Ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani has said that Angoor Adda like actions by US forces in Pakistani territory would not be of any help to the war against terror, instead it would spark wrath and fury among the people.

"It doesn't behoove America taking such unilateral actions especially, when no terrorist was caught," The News quoted Haqqani as saying.

He underscored the need of making the Pakistani people understand the US stance at this hour, as such actions could breed hatred among the people.

We do not want any such action denting the ties between the two countries, Haqqani added.

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

Meanwhile, US military officials have reportedly said that strikes in Pakistan's FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) will increase in the coming months as "such cross-border raids were necessary" to counter increasing violence in Afghanistan.

Reacting to the attack, Gen Tariq Majid, the Chairman of Pakistan Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) has said that his country reserves the right to appropriately retaliate against unilateral attacks by coalition forces from Afghanistan.

Condemning the attack by US forces at Angoor Adda, the CJCSC said that such cross-border strikes would alienate locals. He also said that Afghanistan was leveling allegations against Pakistan to "cover its failures".

Earlier, Pakistan''s Senate on Thursday adopted a unanimous resolution strongly condemning the 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 that this matter may be taken up strongly with member countries of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), the coalition forces 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.

The same day, the country's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also strongly condemned the attack describing it as "shameful and unprovoked". He 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.

He said that there was no known terrorist when the U.S.-led coalition forces attacked the Pakistani area and killed innocent people including women and children.

ANI