M A I N   N E W S

US missiles kill six in Pak village

Peshawar, September 17
A suspected US missile attack by drone aircraft today hit a village in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan, killing six persons where a militant camp was located, Pakistani intelligence officials said.

The missiles targeted Baghar, a village in the mountains 55 km west of Wana, the main town in the region, they said. Baghar is close to Angor Adda, the border village that was raided by US commandos on September 3 and where another helicopter-borne raid was aborted on Monday after Pakistani troops and villagers opened fire.

A Pakistani military spokesman said there had been explosions in the area, but could not confirm the cause. — Reuters

Zardari hopes for end to intrusions
Afzal Khan writes from Islamabad

President Asif Zardari has expressed the confidence that there would be no further US intrusion into Pakistani territory in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

In a brief chat with newsmen after his meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London on Tuesday, Zardari was quoted by the Pakistani media as saying that Brown is fully aware of the prevailing situation in Pakistan. In an apparent reference to the US, Zardari hoped that Brown would also convey the rationale of Pakistani stance on the issue to other friends. “Britain fully understands that foreign incursions would undermine democratic process in Pakistan,” Zardari observed.

The President, who was due back here on Tuesday, has reportedly delayed his return by one day. He is likely to fly later on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning to Dubai on way back to Islamabad.

His meeting with Brown was given considerable importance against the backdrop of President Bush’s attempt to bring Britain on board the latest American strategy to extend operations against the Taliban militants inside Afghanistan and along the tribal areas in Pakistan that are allegedly providing sanctuary to the Afghan insurgents fighting the US occupation of Afghanistan.