US permitted forces to enter Pakistan

US permitted forces to enter Pakistan’

SAN FRANCISCO: Newly uncovered “rules of engagement” in the war on terror show the US military gave elite units broad authority more than three years ago to pursue suspected terrorists in Pakistan, with no mention of telling Pakistanis in advance.

The documents obtained by The Associated Press offer a detailed glimpse at what US Army Rangers and other terrorist-hunting units were authorised to do earlier in the war on terror. And interviews with military officials suggest some of those same guidelines have remained in place, such as the right to “hot pursuit” across the border.

Pakistan, a key US partner in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, has long viewed such incursions as a threat to its sovereignty. Islamabad protested loudly this month when Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama pledged to grant US forces the authority to unilaterally penetrate Pakistan in the hunt for terrorist leaders. Washington repeated assurances it would consult before any such incursions.

But summaries of the rules of engagement on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in April 2004 say chasing Al Qaeda leaders across the frontier was fair game. One summary states that entry into Pakistan was authorised for the following reasons: “Hot pursuit of Al Qaeda, Taliban and terrorist command-and-control targets from Afghanistan into Pakistan.”

If the head of US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, approved direct action “against The Big 3,” listed as Osama bin Laden; his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri; and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omar. The three are still believed to be hiding in the border region. If the US defense secretary approved such an incursion.

Other grounds for incursions into Pakistan, according to this summary, were “personnel recovery,” including rescuing troops after the downing of aircraft; and troops “in contact with” the enemy, meaning under fire.

As for “geographic limits,” the memo states, “General rule: penetrate no deeper than 10 km”.

Told of the guidelines, Pakistan Army Spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said, “This is all nonsense. Pakistan never allowed the coalition forces to enter into our territory while chasing militants. There was no such agreement, there was no such understanding.” Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Todd Vician said this week that he could not comment. “As a policy we don’t talk about rules of engagement, certainly not about current rules in place for any operations in Afghanistan, Iraq or any other operation,” he said. ap