Cross-border fire from U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan kills civilians in Pakistan

TANGRAI, Pakistan -- U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan fired across the border into Pakistan in a strike targeting Taliban militants, and the Pakistani army said Thursday that civilians were killed.

The attack illustrates Washington's concern the Taliban and al-Qaida are using Pakistan's lawless frontier as a base for attacks in Afghanistan.

But anger at civilian deaths could lead to a review by the incoming Pakistani government of the country's counterterrorism strategy and its U.S.-backed policy of using military force to root out militants.

A spokesman for the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said troops used "precision-guided munitions" to strike a compound about a mile inside Pakistan on Wednesday.

Maj. Chris Belcher said the troops were responding to an "imminent threat" and that the coalition informed Pakistani authorities after the strike.

"We received reliable intelligence indicating senior Haqqani network members were in the compound at the time of the strike," Belcher said Thursday in Kabul.

Siraj Haqqani is a prominent Afghan militant. On Wednesday, a coalition statement accused him of organizing a suicide attack that killed two NATO soldiers at an Afghan government office on March 3. It said Haqqani "has become the most dangerous Taliban leader in Afghanistan."

It was not clear whether the coalition forces fired from the ground or the air or what weapons were used. Belcher said he could not detail the threat and had no information on casualties.

In Tangrai, a village of about 40 houses surrounded by fields and mountains, residents led an Associated Press reporter to the rubble of the house hit in the attack. Only one of its four walls was standing amid a tangle of mud bricks, bedding and cooking pots.

"We are innocent, we have nothing to do with such things," said Noor Khan, a greengrocer who said the house was his family home.

He said six of his relatives -- four women and two boys -- died in the attack.

"We are poor people just trying to earn a living," he said.

The Pakistani army said four civilians -- two women and two children -- died. There was no way to resolve the discrepancy between the numbers.

Pakistan's army, which has received billions of dollars from Washington to fight al-Qaida and the Taliban, initially said the incident was an accident.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, an army spokesman, said five artillery shells fired by coalition forces strayed into Pakistan's North Waziristan region. One shell hit a home in the village, killing two women and two children, he said.

Asked later about the coalition statement that the compound had been hit deliberately, Abbas said the government summoned a coalition representative to explain.

"We have called for an explanation of whatever statement they have given," Abbas said. Firing across the border "is a violation and second, civilians were killed," he said.

Asked whether militants were present, Abbas said: "We have asked them to explain how the civilian casualties occurred."

Pakistan has deployed approximately 90,000 troops to hunt down militants in its border regions. President Pervez Musharraf has sought to convince Pakistanis that they are fighting to protect their own country, not just for America's sake.

But with violence escalating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, many here hope the anti-Musharraf parties who triumphed in parliamentary elections last month will scale back military activities and seek dialogue with militant groups, whose influence has been growing.

Ahsan Iqbal, a spokesman for the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, said the new parliament would review its counterterrorism strategy.

"Pakistan's integrity and territorial sovereignty should be respected," Iqbal told the AP. "Killing of innocent people is highly deplorable and there should not be any repeat."

There have been several incidents in the past of coalition fire landing in Pakistani territory.

Some may be due to the poor demarcation of the long, rugged border. In June last year, a rocket fired during a battle between U.S.-led NATO forces and insurgents in Afghanistan struck a home in North Waziristan, killing 10 civilians.

But there have also been several cases where unmanned U.S. drones have fired missiles at suspected militant hideouts in Pakistan's border regions, including a strike in January that killed a senior al-Qaida commander.

U.S. military officials and soldiers have said on several occasions that they already have authority to pursue or fire on militants a short distance inside Pakistan.

Pakistani officials usually deny such incidents or voice complaints with no obvious consequences, leading many to believe that cross-border strikes are carried out with Islamabad's tacit blessing.

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Associated Press writers Alisa Tang in Kabul and Sadaqat Jan in Islamabad contributed to this report. Graham also reported from Islamabad.