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U.S. Strike Reported as Mullen Consults Pakistanis
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"The outrage is spreading right through society," Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani author and expert on Islamic militancy, said by telephone Wednesday night from Lahore. "People are genuinely upset, and anti-Americanism is increasing, in the military most of all. This can make it much harder for the next U.S. president to deal with Pakistan."
On the other hand, Rashid said, Pakistan has shown "continued reluctance to deal with the Afghan Taliban leaders on its soil, and the military has no cohesive strategy to deal with the terrorist threat."
There was no official U.S. confirmation of Wednesday's strike by a drone aircraft, but Pakistani officials privately said that it had hit a compound near the town of Angor Adda in South Waziristan that was a known Taliban base. The officials said six Taliban members had been killed.
The Sept. 3 commando raid was conducted in the same area. Fifteen to 20 people were reported killed in that operation, including some civilians.
Public condemnation has been especially acute among tribal communities in the border region, which is not directly controlled by Pakistani authorities. For years, it has been a hotbed of violence, smuggling, and local and foreign Islamist extremists.
On Wednesday, tribal elders in South Waziristan held a mass meeting in which they strongly condemned the strikes, asked the government to stop them and vowed to retaliate against any further foreign attacks.
Ahmed Gul Wazir, a tribal elder, said by telephone from the area that the local populace believed the attacks were intended to drive a wedge between them and the government, force them to resort to violence and thus justify a major Pakistani military operation there.
Hussain reported from Islamabad.
