[Peace-discuss] Response to US killings

[C. G. Estabrook]

     Pakistan orders troops to fire on US cross-border raids
     Army official says field commanders have been told to take
     action against further raids launched from Afghanistan

     * Mark Tran and agencies
     * guardian.co.uk,
     * Tuesday September 16 2008 16:17 BST

Pakistan's military said today its forces had received orders to fire on US 
troops if they entered Pakistani territory, after a cross-border raid inflamed 
public opinion.

The country's civilian leaders, who have taken a tough line against militants, 
have insisted Pakistan must resolve the dispute with the US through diplomatic 
channels. But the military has taken a more robust line.

General Athar Abbas, an army spokesman, told the Associated Press that after a 
cross-border assault in the south Waziristan region earlier this month, the 
military told its field commanders to take action to prevent any similar raids.

"The orders are clear," Abbas said in an interview. "In case it happens again in 
this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, 
no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: open fire."

The remarks mark a sharp deterioration in military relations between the US and 
Pakistan, which have been close allies in the "war on terror" since the 
September 11 attacks seven years ago.

The Bush administration has shown increasing impatience over what it considers 
Pakistan's incapacity or unwillingness to crack down on Taliban and al-Qaida 
fighters operating on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Pakistan insists it is doing what it can. It has about 100,000 troops in the 
restive north-west and suicide bombers are inflicting an increasingly deadly 
toll on the Pakistani army.

American officials have confirmed that their forces carried out a raid near the 
town of Angoor Ada but have given few details. Abbas said Pakistan's military 
had asked for an explanation but received only a "half-page" of "very vague" 
information that did not identify the intended target. Pakistani officials have 
said the raid killed about 15 people, and Abbas said they all appeared to be 
civilians.

He would not say whether General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who replaced Pervez 
Musharraf as head of the army last year, personally made the decision on orders 
to fire on US troops or if it had been discussed with US officials.

The army spokesman played down reports that Pakistani forces yesterday shot at 
US helicopters after they penetrated national air space. Abbas insisted no 
foreign troops had crossed the border and that "trigger-happy tribesmen" had 
fired the shots.

Pakistani troops based nearby fired flares to see what was going on, he said. 
The US military in Afghanistan said none of its troops were involved in such an 
incident yesterday.

As the US steps up its military activity in the sensitive tribal area, Pakistani 
officials have warned that an increase in cross-border raids will achieve little 
and fuel the insurgency in Pakistan. Some complain that the country is being 
made a scapegoat for the failure to stabilise Afghanistan.

In a rare public statement last week, Kayani said Pakistan's sovereignty would 
be defended "at all cost". Abbas said Pakistani officials had to consider public 
opinion, which was increasingly anti-American and had some sympathy for rebels 
claiming to fight in the name of Islam.

"Please look at the public reaction to this kind of adventure or incursion," 
Abbas said. "The army is also an extension of the public and you can only 
satisfy the public when you match your words with your actions."

Last week, Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said a 
new strategy for Afghanistan was needed that incorporated the tribal territory. 
George Bush is believed to have signed a secret order allowing US forces to 
operate in the tribal area, even though the UN mandate for international forces 
in Afghanistan does not extend into Pakistan.

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