VOA标准英语2008年-Pakistan Warns Cross-Border Raid Could Provoke

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Pakistani lawmakers have denounced Wednesday's raid by foreign troops in Pakistani territory, passing a resolution condemning¹ the operation and vowing² to repel³ similar attacks in the future. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad that the Pakistani military warned such operations could provoke a backlash in the country's volatile⁴ tribal⁵ regions.

Wednesday's raid was the first confirmed ground operation by foreign troops based in Afghanistan and it dominated the agenda in Pakistan's parliament.
　
Mahmood Qureshi, 21 May 2008

Foreign Minister Mahmood Qureshi said the government had already summoned the U.S. ambassador to complain.

He said the operation was shameful⁶ because it violated the sovereignty and territorial⁷ integrity of a U.S. ally in the war against terrorism.

Details about the raid remain unclear, including who was behind it. Western news agencies have reported that U.S. military sources claim American troops based in Afghanistan carried out the assault on a village less than two kilometers from the Afghan border. The number of people reported killed varied⁸ from seven to 20 and Pakistani officials said nearly all of them were civilians⁹.

Pakistan's military has worked with U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan for several years to establish guidelines governing military action along their shared border.

Pakistan army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said Wednesday's operation was an unprecedented¹⁰ violation¹¹ of those guidelines.

"In the past the other side, NATO ISAF, have been engaging the foreign militants¹³ present in the area and on this actionable intelligence they engage them through their Predators¹⁴ [drones]," he said. "But never before did a single incursion take place, which has serious consequences."

The cross-border operation follows months of increased violence in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. commanders have blamed safe havens¹⁵ in Pakistani tribal areas for giving militants space to re-arm and plan attacks.

But Major General Abbas said Wednesday's assault was especially worrying because there were no reports of militants in the area. He said such operations risked alienating¹⁶ local tribes whose support is vital for defeating Taliban militants.

"We do not want this line which is dividing the militant¹² component¹⁷ and the tribe at large to diminish," he said. "Because if it gets obliterated¹⁸ where the tribe and the militant join each other - and there is an uprising against the local security forces or the forces from outside - this would create one big problem."

Top Pakistani and U.S. commanders met on an aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean last week to discuss border security. Major General Abbas insisted the officials did not authorize¹⁹ cross-border ground assaults such as Wednesday's raid in South Waziristan.