Pakistan Warns Against US Raids

Pakistan’s new president, angered by US raids into Pakistan in search of terrorists, has warned that his country cannot allow its territory to “be violated by our friends”.

Asif Ali Zardari told world leaders that such attacks strengthen the extremists which the US and others are trying to destroy.

His speech, at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, comes at a tense moment in US-Pakistan relations.

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Pakistani soldiers fired at American reconnaissance helicopters along the Pakistan-Afghan border on Thursday, officials said, sparking a ground battle between American and Pakistani soldiers.

“Just as we will not let Pakistan’s territory to be used by terrorists for attacks against our people and our neighbours, we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends,” Mr Zardari said.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan is deemed crucial to US-led efforts to battle extremists in South Asia.