Pakistan's army chief harshly criticized the US military for making unilateral cross-border raids from Afghanistan Sept. 12. Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, Chief of Army Staff, said there was "no agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border." Pakistan would defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity "at all costs," he said.
The statement followed revelations this week that President Bush had approved US special forces incursions into Pakistan in July—without the Pakistan's approval—and comments by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who told Congress that a new cross-border strategy was needed to wipe out al-Qaeda "safe havens" in Pakistan. (London Times [2], Sept. 12)
See our last posts on Pakistan [3] and Afghanistan [4].
