Pakistan claims no warning over latest drone strike
Pakistan claims it received no warning about a suspected US missile strike
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Thursday, 18, Sep 2008 11:29
Pakistan has said it received no warning about a suspected US missile strike in the north-west of the country on Wednesday.
Five people are reported to have been killed after a village in Pakistan's South Waziristan province, near the Afghan border, was hit.
Tensions between Washington and Islamabad have been strained of late after a surge in cross-border operations by the US military.
Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi claimed that Islamabad received no prior warning of the attack but suggested that a diplomatic resolution to the tensions was desired.
Wednesday's attack came on the same day US joint chiefs of staff Admiral Mike Mullen assured Pakistan officials of the US' "commitment to respect Pakistan's sovereignty".
Speaking afterward Mr Qureshi said Pakistan "were not informed" of the suspected strike and described Admiral Mullen's statement as "a clear, clear commitment to Pakistan to respect Pakistan's sovereignty."
"And now if having said that there was an attack later in the night, that means there is some sort of an institutional disconnect on their side, and if so, they will have to sort it out," he added.