Pakistan kills militants; tension with U.S. grows
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistani security forces have killed 20 militants in fighting in a northwestern region on the Afghan border, a security official said on Thursday, as sharp differences on terrorism surfaced with the United States.
An intensifying insurgency in Afghanistan has brought more pressure on Pakistan to go after militants operating out of sanctuaries in remote enclaves on its side of the border. It has also led to a sharp increase in U.S. strikes on militants in Pakistan.
The new government in Islamabad says it is committed to the campaign against militancy, launched after the September 11 attacks seven years ago, but bans incursions by U.S. troops.
In the latest fighting in the Bajaur region, Pakistani security forces backed by helicopter gunships killed 20 militants in an attack on a militant stronghold in the village of Rashkai that began on Wednesday, security officials said.
"We've almost taken control of the area. Our troops are advancing and the operation is likely to be finished today," said an official who declined to be identified.
A military official said four soldiers were also killed and some Arabs were among the dead militants.
Militants in Bajaur, where some analysts believed top al Qaeda leaders have been hiding, frequently cross into Afghanistan to attack Western troops and government forces there.
Violence in Afghanistan has soared over the past two years as al Qaeda and Taliban fighters have regrouped and the U.S. military said on Wednesday it was not winning there and would revise its strategy to combat militant havens in Pakistan.
Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said on Wednesday Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil.
Helicopter-borne U.S. commandos carried out a ground assault in Pakistan's South Waziristan, a sanctuary for al Qaeda operatives, last week, the first known incursion into Pakistan by U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, killing 20 people, including women and children.
Pakistan condemned the U.S. raid and summoned the U.S. ambassador to lodge a protest.
(Writing by Robert Birsel)
