Saturday, May 17, 2008, Jamadi-ul-Awwal 10, 1429    

Pakistan protests US missile strike on Bajaur

Islamabad—Pakistan’s army lodged a formal protest Friday to “allied forces” in neighboring Afghanistan over a suspected US missile strike this week that killed 14 people in a Pakistani border village.
Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said Pakistan concluded that Wednesday’s attack on a house in Damadola village was launched by drones from Afghanistan.
Abbas said a formal protest was lodged Friday with “allied forces” in Afghanistan, an apparent reference to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force that is fighting the Taliban-led insurgency there. The US is among the nations contributing to ISAF.
Abbas said 14 people died in the attack.
It was unclear if any foreign militants were killed because local tribesmen had sealed off the area in the aftermath and buried the victims, he said.
Islamist parties, regional lawmakers and the governor of Pakistan’s volatile North West Frontier Province have already condemned the attack as a violation of the country’s sovereignty. Gov. Ovais Ahmed Ghani warned that it would undermine public support for Pakistan’s efforts against terrorism.
It was the first such strike since Pakistan’s new civilian government took power six weeks ago. A similar air strike in 2006 by a CIA drone targeted, and missed, al-Qaida’s No. 2 leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.—AP