US Special Forces have conducted multiple clandestine raids as part of a secret war inside Pakistan's tribal areas where Washington is pressing to expand its drone attacks, a report in Britains Guardian newspaper said.
Citing a former Nato officer, the Guardian said these incursions, only one of which was previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008. It involved helicopter-borne elite soldiers entering through the border at night. The incursions were never declared to the Pakistani government, the report said.
The source said Pakistan was kept in the dark about the operations and that the United States would not officially confirm the procedures.
After the only publicly acknowledged special forces raid in September 2008, Pakistan's foreign office condemned it as a grave provocation, while the Pakistani military threatened retaliatory action.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | ?US Special Forces conducted multiple raids in Pakistan?
US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida | World news | The Guardian
Citing a former Nato officer, the Guardian said these incursions, only one of which was previously reported, occurred between 2003 and 2008. It involved helicopter-borne elite soldiers entering through the border at night. The incursions were never declared to the Pakistani government, the report said.
The source said Pakistan was kept in the dark about the operations and that the United States would not officially confirm the procedures.
After the only publicly acknowledged special forces raid in September 2008, Pakistan's foreign office condemned it as a grave provocation, while the Pakistani military threatened retaliatory action.
DAWN.COM | Pakistan | ?US Special Forces conducted multiple raids in Pakistan?
US forces mounted secret Pakistan raids in hunt for al-Qaida | World news | The Guardian