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Reported US attack pushes Afghanistan war into Pakistan

This article is more than 15 years old
Up to 20 die in attack by commandoes on village near known Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold

The war in Afghanistan spilled over into Pakistani territory for the first time today when heavily armed commandoes, believed to be US special forces, landed by helicopter and attacked three houses in a village close to a known Taliban and al-Qaida stronghold.

The early morning attack on Jala Khel killed between seven and 20 people, according to a range of reports from the remote Angoor Adda region of South Waziristan. The village is situated less than a mile from the Afghanistan border.

Local residents were quoted as saying most of the dead were civilians and included women and children. It was not known whether any Taliban or al-Qaida militants or western forces were among the dead.

Major-General Athar Abbas, a spokesman for the Pakistan army, said Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) had carried out the raid. "Two helicopters of Isaf landed very early in the morning and conducted a raid on a compound there. As per our report, seven civilians were killed in this raid."

But a Nato spokesman denied involvement. "There has been no Nato or Isaf involvement crossing the border into Pakistan," the Nato spokesman James Appathurai said.

There were unconfirmed reports that the incursion was carried out by US special forces, which are not under Isaf command and can operate independently. A US military spokesman at the Bagram base near Kabul did not deny an attack had occurred but declined to comment.

Official Pakistani condemnation swiftly followed the attack amid growing concern that the Nato-led war against the Taliban in Afghanistan could spread to Pakistan, sparking a region-wide conflagration.

Owais Ahmed Ghanisaid, the governor of North-West Frontier province, which adjoins South Waziristan, said 20 people had died and called for retaliation by the Pakistani army. "This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of Pakistan, and the people of Pakistan expect that the armed forces ... would rise to defend the sovereignty of the country and give a befitting reply," he said.

The foreign ministry in Islamabad said the incursion was "a gross violation of Pakistan's territory" and a "grave provocation" that had resulted in "immense" loss of civilian life.

"Such actions are counter-productive and certainly do not help our joint efforts to fight terrorism. On the contrary, they undermine the very basis of cooperation and may fuel the fire of hatred and violence we are trying to extinguish."

"This is a very alarming and very dangerous development," said a former senior Pakistani official. "We have absolutely been telling them (the US) not to do this but they ignored us."

US and Nato commanders say Taliban and al-Qaida fighters use the unruly, semi-autonomous tribal areas of Pakistan to stage strikes on coalition forces inside Afghanistan and to create "safe havens" where they are immune from attack. Nato and civilian casualties in Afghanistan have reached record levels in the past 12 months as the result of a spreading Taliban offensive.

US forces have used missile-carrying drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – to target militant targets inside Pakistan in the past. But today's assault, involving up to three helicopters and infantry commandoes, marked the first time a direct attack had taken place on Pakistani soil.

Tensions between Pakistan's new civilian government and the US have been running high after American accusations that rogue elements in Pakistan's top spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency, were feeding classified information on coalition troops to Taliban fighters. Washington has also repeatedly accused Islamabad of failing to do enough to curb militant activity along the Afghan border.

The strains have been exacerbated by a political crisis in Pakistan after last month's forced resignation of President Pervez Musharraf and the collapse of a power-sharing agreement between the ruling Pakistan People's party (PPP) and Nawz Sharif, a former prime minister. An election to find a replacement for Musharraf is scheduled for Saturday, with the PPP chairman and Benazir Bhutto's widower, Asif Ali Zardari, expected to win.

In a further sign of instability, militants opened fire today on prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani's car, in an apparent assassination attempt, near Islamabad. The assailants, firing from a roadside embankment, hit the driver's side window twice. Gilani was not in the car at the time. Television pictures showed two clear impact marks on the car's bullet-proof window, which cracked along its length but did not shatter. Gilani's son and a government minister were reportedly in the motorcade.

A top security official in Islamabad said: "This was a warning. They're saying, 'We can get you'. If they could fire bullets, they could also fire a rocket-launcher." The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was a protest against military operations against them in the north-west valley of Swat.

Gilani was due to meet David Cameron, the Conservative leader who is visiting Pakistan. In a speech, Cameron said the attack was "another reminder of the permanent threat that terrorism poses".

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