Pakistani prime minister criticizes U.S. airstrike

WASHINGTON – Pakistan’s prime minister on Sunday condemned an American airstrike on a remote Pakistani village, saying such attacks should be cleared with Islamabad first.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said no understanding exists between U.S. and Pakistani officials that allows American military forces to attack alleged terrorists in Pakistan without first consulting the government.

“The understanding is that we will work together,” Aziz said. “We will work in collaboration with each other.”

Aziz said Pakistani officials were given no notice before the Jan. 13 attack that killed at least 13 civilians, including women and children. The attack was apparently aimed at al-Qaida’s No. 2 man, Ayman al-Zawahri, who wasn’t there.

Pakistan, Aziz said, “has regretted and condemned the incident and said that such incidents should not reoccur. We need to work together. There is no difference in the objectives of the two countries, so there is no reason why we shouldn’t communicate.”

Pakistan, a key U.S. ally, strongly protested the airstrike, which has angered many in the Islamic nation of 150 million and sparked friction between Islamabad and Washington.

The strike is believed to have killed at least four of al-Zawahri’s close associates in the village of Damadola close to the border with Afghanistan.

But Aziz told CNN’s “Late Edition” that “we have not found one body or one shred of evidence that these people were there,” referring to suspected terrorists.

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York, on Sunday defended America’s use of targeted attacks on suspected terrorists.

“They’re planning to do more damage, whether it’s in Europe or the Middle East or here in the United States,” Schumer said on CNN, referring to terrorists. “What we learned is that you can’t just play defense. You need a good offense and a good defense. I have no problem with doing it. I think we should.”

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