At least 20 killed in American attack in Pakistan

Operation was 1st by US on this soil

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - At least 20 people were killed in northwest Pakistan yesterday after US and Afghan troops crossed from Afghanistan to pursue Taliban insurgents in an early-morning attack that marked the first known instance in which American forces conducted an operation on Pakistani soil since the war in Afghanistan began, according to witnesses and a Pakistani official.

The United States has conducted occasional air and artillery strikes against insurgents lodged across the border in Pakistani territory, and "hot pursuit" rules provide some room for US troops to maneuver in the midst of battle. But the arrival of three US helicopters in the village of Musa Nika, clearly inside the Pakistani border, drew a sharp response from Pakistani officials.

"We strongly object to the incursion of ISAF troops on Pakistani territory," said Major General Athar Abbas, chief spokesman for the Pakistani military, referring to the International Security Assistance Force, the coalition of US and other NATO troops that has been battling the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan since 2001.

A US military spokesman in Afghanistan referred requests for comment on the engagement to US Central Command headquarters in Tampa. A CENTCOM spokesman reached by phone in Tampa yesterday declined to comment.

Many details of the incident remain unclear, including the number of ground troops and helicopters involved, and whether US troops were among those that left the helicopters and conducted a ground operation in the village. Pakistani military said two helicopters landed at Musa Nika, while villagers said there were three.

According to Pakistani military and other sources, the attack began a little after 3 a.m. when three US Army helicopters carrying American and Afghan troops landed in Musa Nika in the tribal area of South Waziristan. According to a Pakistani security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly about the engagement, several of the troops then left the helicopters and launched a ground assault on three houses where Taliban fighters were believed to be hiding.

One of the homes belonged to a villager named Pao Jan Ahmedzai Wazir, a local tribesman, said Anwar Shah, a resident of a neighboring village. Several women and children who were inside Wazir's house and two other homes nearby were killed when US and Afghan troops opened fire on the buildings. "The situation there is very terrible. People are trying to take out the dead bodies," Shah said.

Major Murad Khan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, said Pakistani authorities have verified that an attack took place in South Waziristan a little before 4 a.m. But he could not confirm whether US troops were involved until an investigation is complete.

Khan said coalition troops in Afghanistan are generally barred from crossing into Pakistan's tribal areas. "We don't allow foreign troops to operate in our area. Our troops are quite capable of handling the militants on our side," Khan said.

The attack in Musa Nika occurred amid debate over the rules of operation along the area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In recent months, US officials have intensified pressure on Pakistan to clamp down on Taliban insurgents and Al Qaeda fighters sheltering in areas along the 1,500-mile-long border.

Owais Ghani, governor of Pakistan's North-West Frontier province, immediately condemned the attack in Musa Nika, saying several women and children had been killed in the skirmish.