ITN
Tuesday, Sept 3, 2008

Foreign commandos believed to be from the US have killed 20 people in Pakistan, according to reports.

Three helicopter gunships, which were apparently carrying troops, came from the direction of Afghanistan to carry out the pre-dawn attack, killing 20 people, including women and children, a provincial governor said.

The attack is likely to spark uproar in Pakistan where it will be seen as undermining sovereignty at a time when a new civilian government is struggling to assert its authority.

"It is outrageous," Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of North West Frontier province, said in a statement.

"This is a direct assault on the sovereignty of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan expect that the armed forces ... would rise to defend the sovereignty of the country and give a befitting reply," he said.

A spokeswoman or Afghanistan's Nato-led force said she had no information about the incident.

A spokesman for a separate coalition force declined to comment, referring questions to the US Central Command.

The US says that al-Qaeda and Taliban militants are based in sanctuaries in northwest Pakistan's ethnic Pashtun tribal areas on the Afghan border, where they orchestrate attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan and plot violence in the West.

The attack took place in a village near Angor Adda in the South Waziristan region, a known sanctuary for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants.

There were differing accounts of the attack with some people saying it was carried out by helicopter gunships while others spoke of an attack by ground troops as well.

"Troops came in helicopters and carried out action in three houses," said Gul Nawaz, a shopkeeper in the village.

Other residents said the foreign troops detained some people and took them away.

US-operated pilotless drone aircraft have launched attacks in Pakistani border regions several times this year, killing dozens of militants, but US ground troops have not been known to cross into Pakistan to fight militants.