U.S. military intelligence used in Pakistan raid suspected terrorist camp

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Pakistan used intelligence provided by U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan in a raid that killed 80 suspected militants, but American forces did not fire any missiles, Pakistan's army spokesman said Tuesday. He later denied saying American information was provided. Some 10,000 tribesmen, including armed militants, denounced the U.S. and Pakistan governments in the northwestern Bajur district's main town of Khar, close to Chingai village were Pakistan said its helicopters fired at least four missiles Monday into a religious school fronting as a terrorist training camp.

"God is Great," "Death to Bush! Death to Musharraf!" and "Anyone who is a friend of America is a traitor," the crowd chanted in one of several nationwide protests scheduled for Tuesday to condemn the attack.

Pakistan's military said about 80 suspected militants were killed, but locals and religious leaders said innocent students and teachers died. The raid was the deadliest ever single operation launched by Pakistani forces against suspected militants.

Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan, the chief army spokesman, denied reports that American forces took part in the attack on the school, known as a madrassa, saying Pakistan's military launched the entire attack.

But he said intelligence was provided in line with long-standing co-operation with coalition forces to provide military intelligence to battle terrorists operating along the porous Pakistan-Afghan border.

"Intelligence sharing was definitely there, but to say they (the coalition) have carried out the operation, that is absolutely wrong," Sultan told The Associated Press. "One doesn't know . . . what was the percentage of help (that was provided)."

Sultan later contacted the AP to deny that he had said the U.S. provided intelligence that was used in the attack. But he did not say whether any information had been provided.

Pakistan said its helicopters fired five missiles into the madrassa in the Bajur district village of Chingai, flattening the building and killing 80 people inside. Three men survived with serious injuries.

The attack threatened efforts by Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to persuade deeply conservative tribespeople to back his government over pro-Taliban and al-Qaida fighters, who enjoy strong support in many semiautonomous regions in northern Pakistan.

It also sparked claims of U.S. collusion with Pakistan, with villagers saying fixed-wing drone aircraft were seen flying over the town in the days before the attack, according to the Dawn daily newspaper.

In Kabul, Col. Tom Collins, a U.S. military spokesman, said it is common knowledge that the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan share intelligence as part of a three-way military agreement. But he said he had no information regarding the recent operation in Pakistan.

"We have generally shared intelligence ... but I don't have any information on this particular instance," he said.

In January, a U.S. Predator drone fired a missile targeting al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman-Al-Zawahri in Damadola, near Chingai. The strike missed al-Zawahri, but killed several other al-Qaida members and civilians and sparked massive anti-U.S. protests across Pakistan.

Fears are high that Monday's attack will fan unrest across Pakistan, which also witnessed violent protests this year after European newspapers published cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad and the August killing of a ethnic-Baluch tribal chief in another Pakistani military raid.

"They killed 80 teenagers who were students of the Qur'an," Pakistan's most influential Islamist political leader, Qazi Hussain Ahmed, told reporters on Monday. He was leading a convoy of cars Tuesday from Peshawar to take part in protests in Khar and Chingai.

Scores of pro-government tribal police deployed throughout Bajur on Tuesday and blocked roads with stones to prevent political activists and journalists reaching Khar and Chingai, a local government official said on condition of anonymity as he was unauthorized to speak to the media.

At the Khar rally, local Islamic cleric Maulana Roohul Amin urged the crowd to wage holy war against Pakistani forces.

"We will continue our jihad. We will take revenge for the blood of our martyrs," Amin yelled into a loudspeaker.

Small protests were held in several Pakistani cities, including Peshawar, Karachi and Multan on Monday. The unrest caused Britain's Prince Charles, currently in Pakistan, to cancel his planned Tuesday trip to Peshawar, located in the country's northwest.

Many local legislators and regional cabinet ministers resigned in protest over the attack. The planned signing of a peace deal between tribal leaders and the military was also cancelled Monday in response to the air strike.

Among those killed Monday was Liaquat Hussain, a fugitive cleric and al-Zawahri associate who ran the targeted madrassa. The raid was launched after Hussain rejected government warnings to stop using the school as a terrorist training camp, the military said.

Another al-Zawahri lieutenant, Faqir Mohammed, left the madrassa 30 minutes before the strike, according to a Bajur intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

© The Canadian Press, 2006