Pakistan: U.S. forces not allowed across border

updated 1:46 p.m. ET March 3, 2007

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan vehemently denied Saturday the U.S. military’s claim that coalition forces in Afghanistan have the authority to pursue Taliban fleeing across the border into Pakistani territory.

“There is no authorization for hot pursuit of terrorists into our territory,” Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad, spokesman for the Pakistan Army, told The Associated Press on Saturday. “Whatever actions are needed to fight terrorism, we are taking them.”

Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry rejected an assertion by Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, chief operations officer for the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, that his forces routinely fire on and pursue Taliban into Pakistan.

“No foreign forces are allowed to cross into our territorial border,” said Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam. “Pakistan and United States are partners in the war on terror—not adversaries.”

Aslam’s and Arshad’s comments came two days after Lute told the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that “we have all the authorities we need to pursue, either with (artillery) fire or on the ground, across the border.”

Lute provided a detailed description of when U.S. forces can fire on and pursue insurgents across the border into the Islamic nation of Pakistan, an important ally of the U.S. in its campaign against terrorism.

However, Lute did not elaborate on whether there were restrictions on how deep into Pakistan his soldiers could go. He said the decision is based not on distance, but on the immediacy of the threat involved.

Nisar A. Memon, chairman of the Pakistani Senate’s Standing Committee on Defense, said his country alone would take action against militants on its side of the border.

“Pakistan has contributed more than any other country to the successes in the fight against terrorism and extremism,” he said.

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