US: - US commandos entered Pakistan this week to attack an al-Qaeda target near the Afghan border in a move that could signal more intense American efforts to thwart cross-border attacks, US officials said yesterday.
The Bush administration has not officially acknowledged any involvement in the attack on Wednesday on the South Waziristan village of Angor Adda, which killed up to 20 people, including women and children, according to Pakistani officials.
Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the raid by special operations forces targeted suspected al-Qaeda operatives and signalled a possible intensification of American efforts to disrupt militant safe havens in Pakistan.
The raid spawned a furious response from the Pakistan government, which opposes any action by US troops on its soil.
Foreign minister Shah Memood Qureshi said it was a shameful violation of the rules of engagement and the US ambassador to Pakistan was summoned to receive an official protest.
Analysts say the raid appears to be part of an increased US effort to disrupt al-Qaeda and Taliban safe havens in Pakistan that are blamed for fuelling an increasingly sophisticated insurgency against US, Nato and Afghan forces in eastern Afghanistan. - (Reuters)