Pakistan parliament passes resolution after US attack

Islamabad: Parliament passed resolutions Thursday condemning an American-led attack in Pakistani territory after the government summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the unusually bold raid.

The chorus of criticism grew two days before Asif Ali Zardari is expected to be chosen as president in a vote by legislators.

A spokesman said Zardari condemned Wednesday's pre-dawn assault in the South Waziristan tribal region. It killed at least 15 people, officials say, and was the first known foreign ground assault in Pakistan against a Taliban haven.

But Zardari also said Pakistan stands with the U.S. against international terrorism.

Zardari, widower of former premier Benazir Bhutto, is expected to pursue a pro-U.S. policy similar to that of former President Pervez Musharraf and continue to go after Islamic militants accused of crossing into Afghanistan to attack the U.S.-led international security force there.

An American official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of cross-border operations, confirmed to The Associated Press that U.S. troops conducted the raid about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Afghan border.

It was unclear whether any extremist leader was killed or captured. Pakistan's border region is considered a likely hiding place for Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida's No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi condemned the
attack, saying "no important terrorist or high-value target" was killed but that innocent citizens, including women and children were "targeted."

The ministry's spokesman said officials had no indication
that U.S. forces had captured anyone.

Pakistan army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, citing
witness and intelligence reports, said troops flew in on at
least one big CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, blasted
their way into several houses and gunned down men they found there.

Army and intelligence officials as well as residents said
15 people died, while the provincial governor said 20
civilians, including women and children, were killed.

Pakistan's Senate and National Assembly passed resolutions
Thursday condemning the attack.

In the past, similar protests over suspected U.S. missile
attacks in Pakistani territory have led to little tangible
effect on America's relationship with Pakistan, which has
received billions of dollars from Washington for its aid in
the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

Still, the operation in South Waziristan's Angoor Ada area
threatened to complicate an already difficult relationship.

U.S. commanders have been pushing Pakistan to root out
militants. American officials say destroying militant
sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal regions is key to defeating
Taliban-led militants in Afghanistan, whose insurgency has
strengthened every year since 2001, when the fundamentalist
militia was ousted for harboring bin Laden.

Suspected U.S. missile strikes killed at least two
al-Qaida commanders this year in northwest Pakistan,
angering many among the region's fiercely independent
tribes.

In a sign of the complex nature of the situation along the
porous border, a U.S. commander told the AP that U.S.
troops in Afghanistan will step up offensive operations
this winter because insurgents are increasingly staying in
the country to prepare for spring attacks.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey J. Schloesser said 7,000 to 11,000
insurgents operate in the eastern part of Afghanistan that
he oversees _ a far higher estimate than given by previous
U.S. commanders.

He said the U.S. military realized more militants spent
last winter in Afghanistan after speaking with elders and
villagers who were pushed out of their homes. The spike in
violence in the spring occurred because insurgents were
already in position to unleash attacks, though U.S.
officials did not know it at the time, he said.

In Washington, some administration officials have pressed
President George W. Bush to direct U.S. troops in
Afghanistan to be more aggressive in pursuing militants
into Pakistan on foot as part of a proposed radical shift
in regional counterterrorism strategy, the AP learned.

In a column Thursday in The Washington Post, Zardari
described global terrorism as chief among the challenges
facing his country. The column mentioned an apparent
assassination attempt Wednesday against Pakistan's prime
minister but did not refer to the earlier cross-border
raid.

"We stand with the United States, Britain, Spain and
others who have been attacked," wrote Zardari, whose wife
was killed in a gun-and-bomb attack in December.
"Fundamentally, however, the war we are fighting is our
war. This battle is for Pakistan's soul."

A lawmaker from the chief opposition party of ex-Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif blasted the U.S. for the attack.

"The American war against terrorism has become a war
against Pakistan," Zafar Ali Shah said.

In another sign of opposition to Zardari, lawyers in the
capital, Islamabad, scuffled with police in a protest over
his broken promise to quickly reinstate judges ousted by
Musharraf.

The circumstances of Wednesday's raid remained unclear,
but U.S. rules of engagement allow American troops to chase
militants across the border into Pakistan's tribal region
when they are attacked. They may only go about six miles
(10 kilometers) on the ground under normal circumstances.
U.S. rules allow aircraft to go 10 miles (16 kilometers)
into Pakistan air space.

However, army spokesman Abbas said "hot pursuit" wasn't
an issue, calling the attack "completely unprovoked." He
said Pakistani troops were near the village and saw and
heard nothing to suggest the U.S. forces were pursuing
insurgents.

He said the raid would undermine Pakistan's efforts to
isolate Islamic extremists.

"We cannot afford a huge uprising at the level of
tribe," Abbas told the AP. "That would be completely
counterproductive and doesn't help the cause of fighting
terrorism in the area."

Elsewhere in the volatile northwest, a firefight and
airstrikes killed 37 Islamic militants Wednesday, officials
said.

The Frontier Corps in North West Frontier Province said in
a statement that 20 militants died in a heavy exchange of
fire that erupted around midnight in the Darra Adam Khel
area, south of Peshawar.

An army spokesman said troops backed by warplanes killed
another 17 militants in an operation begun on Wednesday in
Swat, another militant stronghold in a valley northeast of
Peshawar.