U.S. Strike Reportedly Killed Five in Pakistan

Five foreign militants were killed in Islamabad, Pakistan on Wednesday, after an American pilotless aircraft fired missiles at a village well inside Pakistani territory. This was the first strike that was beyond Pakistan's tribal areas. The attack was again aimed at killing militants with Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who have made a safe haven in Pakistan for attacks against NATO and American soldiers in Afghanistan. On Thursday, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the American ambassador, Anne Patterson, to Pakistan in protest of the attack. Twenty other strikes made by America in the past two months were also addressed. Pakistani leaders protested they were an infringement of the nation's sovereignty and alienated the Pakistani public. On Wednesday, the chief of the Pakistani Amry, who was meeting with NATO commanders in Brussels, tried to stop the American Missile Attacks. A spokesman stated, "He highlighted the need to reinforce Pakistan's effort and operate in a coordinated manner within respective national boundaries." General Kayani also promised to keep open a supply line running through Pakistan for NATO soldiers that are fighting in Afghanistan. This appeared to be a sign that the Pakistani government could tolerate the American strikes. The route that trucks take to transport heavy military equipment and other supplies for the soldiers in Afghanistan that travles from the Pakistani port of Karachi north through the Khyber Pass to Afghanistan was closed last week. This resulted after Taliban militants attacked a convoy as it came near the border of Afghanistan. General Kayani told the NATO committee that he would do whatever possible within their power to ensure that the supply line is open, recognizing the importance of the coalition's military campaign in Afghanistan. NATO is also looking for an alternate supply route that would run from Central Asian states to the Afghan front. They are seeking permission from the Central Asian states and this will reduce the reliance on Pakistan. The missile strike on Wednesday took place in the village of Indi Khel, aimed at a residential compound. This village and the area around it has been a center for criminals and militants who travel over the border to Afghanistan to fight NATO and American soldiers. Of the militants killed in the attack, two were Arabs and three were Uzbeks. In addition, four residents of the compound, one being a child, were wounded and taken to the nearby hospital for treatment. The day before the missile strike, the US military announced that it was working in coordination with Pakistani forces to stop insurgents escaping into Afghanistan from Bajaur, where the Pakistani military has been battling the Taliban for the past three months. The commander of the Army's First Infantry Division in northeast Afghanistan said that the new intelligence cooperation between the Pakistani and the American Armies would be enhanced in the coming months. He also praised the Pakistani forces' efforts against militants, saying that their military has been taking away their safe havens in Pakistan. After reading this article, it seems like the efforts to improve the relationship between the US and Pakistan is finally beginning to work. They are trying to come up with an agreement to work together to rid Pakistan of the al Qaeda and Taliban leaders who are hiding in the tribal regions.
Brittney Nicola
11/22/08
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/world/asia/20pstan.html?scp=3&sq=pakistan&st=cse