Suspected US commandos kill 20 civilians in S. Waziristan raid
4 Sep 2008, 1017 Hrs

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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.

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)