Pakistan tells U.S. to stay out of its border territory
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan sought to reassure Washington on Friday that it remained an ally in fighting terrorism, but it also warned the U.S. to stay out of Pakistani territory while hunting down militants along the volatile border with Afghanistan.
Emphasizing that it doesn’t need American firepower, a Pakistani general said an offensive along the frontier has killed more than 1,000 militants and predicted the region would be “stabilized” within two months.
He also showed photos of militant tunnel systems and trenches in Bajur, suggesting more tough fighting ahead in an area that is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaida leaders.
Washington has launched a flurry of missiles and a ground assault on targets within Pakistan recently, infuriating ordinary Pakistanis and their leaders.
In the first serious exchange with Pakistani forces acknowledged by the U.S., American helicopters and Pakistani ground troops briefly traded fire Thursday on the border. The aircraft were not hit and no one was hurt.
U.S. officials said the two choppers were inside Afghanistan when the troops opened fire. Pakistan insisted the aircraft had crossed the ill-defined and contested border.
Pakistani government spokesman Akram Shaheedi urged U.S.-led coalition forces “not to violate territorial sovereignty of Pakistan as it is counterproductive to the war on terror.”
President Asif Ali Zardari addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday and warned that Pakistan cannot allow its territory to “be violated by our friends.” But he struck a more conciliatory note Friday at a brief appearance alongside Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
“I look at U.S. support as a blessing. I look at the world support as a blessing to Pakistan,” Zardari said.
Rice did not answer when asked about the border clash, but expressed unwavering U.S. support for Pakistan.
The U.S. and NATO sends fuel and other supplies through Pakistan to its troops in Afghanistan, while Pakistan requires help from the U.S. and other Western powers to pull out of a crippling economic crisis.
Pakistani officials have long warned that unilateral U.S. actions in the tribal zone risk alienating residents whose cooperation they need in battling the insurgents.
“These incursions strengthen the hands of the militants, that is the result of this,” said Talat Masood, a military and political analyst. “You don’t want to strengthen them; you want to weaken them.”
Pakistan has cited its offensive in the northwestern Bajur border region as an example of its commitment to rooting out extremists there.
Maj. Gen. Tariq Khan told reporters on an army-organized trip to the area Friday “that the consensus is that more than 1,000” militants had been killed since operations began in early August.