Top U.S. Military Officer in Pakistan on Unannounced Visit With Senior Leaders

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan-Top U.S. Military Officer Adm. Mike Mullen flew to Pakistan Tuesday for an unannounced visit with senior leaders amid Pakistani orders to fire on U.S. troops conducting cross-border raids from Afghanistan, FOX News confirmed."The chairman is in Pakistan today for meetings with senior civilian and military leaders," Navy Capt. John Kirby, spokesman for the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters. Pakistan's military ordered its forces Tuesday to take the offensive if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid across the Afghan border, an army spokesman said.The orders, which come in response to a highly unusual Sept. 3 ground attack by U.S. commandos, are certain to heighten tensions between Washington and a key ally against terrorism. Although the ground attack was rare, there have been repeated reports of U.S. drone aircraft striking militant targets, most recently on Sept.12.Pakistani officials warn that stepped-up cross-border raids will accomplish little while fueling violent religious extremism in nuclear-armed Pakistan.Some complain that the country is a scapegoat for the failure to stabilize Afghanistan. Pakistan's civilian leaders, who have taken a hard line against Islamic militants since forcing Pervez Musharraf to resign as president last month, have insisted that Pakistan must resolve the dispute with Washington through diplomatic channels.A Pakistani military spokesman told FOX News that the statement about firing on U.S. troops was taken out of context, and they will only act if there is aggression inside Pakistan."We enjoy good cooperation with Pakistan along the border," added Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman."Pakistan is an ally in the global war on terror."But army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas told The Associated Press that after U.S. helicopters ferried troops into a militant stronghold in the South Waziristan tribal region, the military told field commanders to prevent any similar raids."The orders are clear," Abbas said in an interview. "In case it happens again in this form, that there is a very significant detection, which is very definite, no ambiguity, across the border, on ground or in the air: open fire."U.S. military commanders accuse Islamabad of doing too little to prevent the Taliban and other militant groups from recruiting, training and resupplying in Pakistan's wild tribal belt.Pakistan acknowledges the presence of Al Qaeda fugitives and its difficulties in preventing militants from seeping through the mountainous border into Afghanistan.However, it insists it is doing what it can and paying a heavy price, pointing to its deployment of more then 100,000 troops in its increasingly restive northwest and a wave of homicide bombings across the country.After talks Tuesday with British officials in London, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said he did not "think there will be any more" cross-border raids by the U.S. He declined to comment on the order to use lethal force against American troops.Instead, he and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown issued a joint statement saying Afghanistan and Pakistan should lead the efforts to battle border militancy. The joint statement left out any mention of the United States.American officials have confirmed their forces carried out the Sept. 3 raid near the town of Angoor Ada but given few details of what happened.Abbas said that Pakistan's military had asked for an explanation but received only a "half-page" of "very vague" information that failed to identify the intended target.Pakistani officials have said the raid killed about 15 people, and Abbas said they all appeared to be civilians."These were truck drivers, local traders and their families," he said.How to reverse a surge in Taliban violence in Afghanistan has become a major issue in the U.S. presidential campaign and refocused attention on the porous border with Pakistan.
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