At least 20 civilian were killed in a pre-dawn ground attack by the USA

At least 20 civilian including three women and four children were killed in a pre-dawn ground attack by the US and the NATO forces in Mausa Nika area in Angoor Adda in the South Waziristan Agency on Wednesday.

For the first time since the initiation of the war against terrorism, the Afghanistan-based NATO forces intruded into Pakistan from three gunship helicopters and operated inside the tribal territory, according to local sources. Nathan Perry, an American military spokesman in Afghanistan, said it had no information to give about the operation in the tribal areas, while a spokesman for the NATO-led troops also denied any involvement in the pre-dawn attack.

Foreign Office spokesman Muhammad Sadiq said that the government strongly condemned the assault by the coalition troops, and termed it a gross territorial violation. The Foreign Minister also summoned US Ambassador Anne W Patterson in the Foreign Office to lodge a protest over the incident. "It is most unfortunate that coalition/ISAF troops in Afghanistan have resorted to cross-border use of force against civilians," Sadiq said. "Such actions are counter-productive and certainly do not help our joint efforts to fight terrorism," he said. On the contrary, it may fuel the fire of hatred and violence, he said.

The Pakistan Army has also lodged a strong protest with the Office of the Defence Representative in Pakistan (ODRP), according to a military spokesman. "We reserve the right of self-defence and retaliation to protect our citizens and soldiers against aggression," he said. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani condemned the attack in South Waziristan by the foreign troops. He said no external forces could be allowed to launch an attack inside Pakistan. He said Pakistan was a sovereign country fully capable of countering extremist and terrorist elements within its borders.

NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani also condemned in the strongest words the attack by three Afghanistan-based coalition gunship helicopters and commandos on a village in Birmal area of South Waziristan, in which at least 20 innocent citizens of Pakistan including women and children were martyred.

"It is an outrage," the governor said in a statement. As administrative head of the FATA, Ghani said that he was responsible for the safety and security of the citizens of the country in the tribal area. "I have already raised the issue of repeated predator attacks with the federal government," he said.

The fresh incident was tantamount to direct assault on the sovereignty of Pakistan, Ghani said, and added the people expected that the armed forces would rise to defend the sovereignty of the country and give a befitting reply to all such attacks.

The governor said such attacks hurt the pro-government and peaceful sentiments among the people of targeted areas. He expressed heartfelt sympathies with the bereaved families and assured that the government would try its best to protect its citizens from such cowardly attacks in the days to come.

Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar told reporters in Lahore that homes near the border had been attacked by the NATO aircraft and made no mention of ground forces. Army spokesman Maj Murad Khan said it also had reports that 15 people, including women and children, died in the attack in South Waziristan.

Officials said both the army and the Foreign Ministry were investigating. Habib Khan Wazir, an area resident, said the incident occurred in a village called Musa Nikow. Wazir said he heard the sound of helicopters and then an exchange of fire between the assailants and other residents.

"Later, I saw 15 bodies inside and outside two homes. They had been shot in the head," Wazir told an AP reporter by telephone. He said the dead included women and children and that all were civilians. He claimed that the attackers were American and Afghan troops, and didn't know if any of them had been wounded.

"There was darkness at the time when the Americans came and killed our innocent people," Wazir said. "We would have not allowed them to go back alive if they had come to our village in daylight," he said. The funerals of the slain people were held in the village later Wednesday.