Suspected US commandos kill 20 civilians in S. Waziristan raid

Wana (Pakistan), Sept 4 (ANI): Around 20 civilians, including women and children, were killed in raids carried out by suspected US commandos in a remote South Waziristan village on Wednesday, official sources in Wana region in NWFP said.

NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani said three helicopter gunships and commandos were involved in the pre-dawn attack on a house in the Jala Khel village in the Birmal area, 30 km west of Wana.

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Witnesses in Angoor Adda, which is the last Pakistani town near the Afghan border, said that troops entered the house of a local tribesman, opened fire and threw a bomb in the house, reported the Daily Times.

An ISPR (Inter-State Public Relations) statement said that the Pakistan Army had lodged a protest with the Office of the Defence Representative in Pakistan (ODRP), and said that Pakistan reserved the right of retaliation.

In a separate statement, the Foreign Ministry said: "Such actions are counterproductive and certainly do not help our joint efforts to fight terrorism."

Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the attack, even as a spokesman for the Pakistani embassy in Washington said the attack was a result of "faulty intelligence". (ANI)