US strikes hurt anti-terror effort

PAKISTAN: Pakistan’s foreign minister said American military operations in Pakistani territory undermine efforts to fight terrorism, after a suspected U.S. missile strike in the Muslim nation’s northwest reportedly killed six people.

Meanwhile, in a sign of growing international concern about the militant threat here, Britain said the children of its diplomats in Pakistan have been ordered to leave the country. The decision came in the wake of the deadly Sept. 20 Marriott hotel bombing in Islamabad.

In a Wednesday speech at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Pakistan’s top diplomat described his government’s efforts to use peace talks, economic development and force in an overall strategy to reduce extremism.

Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Pakistan would also use a media campaign to raise public support for fighting militancy. But he warned that U.S. strikes on Pakistan’s northwest could hamper its efforts, despite his government’s public denunciation of such operations.

“It hurts us even more when the transgressor is our friend and ally, the U.S.,” the foreign minister said. “If there are actions to be taken, the actions will be taken by Pakistan.”

The suspected U.S. missile strike Tuesday, however, indicated that Washington was moving ahead with cross-border raids despite Pakistani protests. The U.S. has recently ramped up such operations against Taliban and al-Qaida militants in Pakistan’s border zone with Afghanistan - a region considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In the late Tuesday attack along the border, missiles fired by a U.S. drone struck a Taliban commander’s home near Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, said two Pakistani intelligence officials who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.

Citing reports from their field agents, the officials said Wednesday that six people died, but did not identify any of the victims.

US officials in Afghanistan or Washington rarely acknowledge the attacks. Pakistan says the attacks often result in civilian casualties and serve to fan extremism. American officials complain that Pakistan is unwilling or unable to act against the militants.

Militants in the border region are blamed for rising attacks on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and attacks in Pakistan, including the bombing of the Marriott that killed at least 54 people.

Britain said children of its diplomats in Pakistan should be sent back home, citing a security review following the hotel blast. About 60 children under age 8 from families of British-based embassy staff are to leave, the British Foreign Office said.

Islamabad, Thursday, AP