Pakistan's foreign minister has warned that US military operations in Pakistani territory undermine efforts to fight terrorism.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi made the comments yesterday, following a suspected US missile strike in the Muslim nation's northwest that reportedly killed six people.
Meanwhile, in a sign of growing international concern about the situation in Pakistan, Britain had ordered the children of its diplomats based in Islamabad to leave.
Britain's foreign office announced the withdrawal, affecting more than 60 children, yesterday in the wake of last month's bombing at the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital.
Officials have said the attack looked like the work of al-Qaeda.
"Following a review of security in the wake of the attack on the Marriott Hotel, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has decided that the children of UK-based staff at the British High Commission in Islamabad should return to the UK," a foreign office spokesman told AFP.
Any dependents, such as spouses, could return to Britain if they chose.
The spokesman said the "core work of the High Commission will not be affected. The UK is committed to maintaining its strong relationship with Pakistan, especially at this difficult time".
On September 20, a suicide bomber at the upscale Marriott hotel exploded a truck filled with 600kg of explosives, killing 60 people and injuring more than 260 others.
President Asif Ali Zardari has described the bombing as an assassination attempt he and other top national leaders narrowly escaped.
In a speech yesterday that reflects heightened tensions between Pakistan and the US, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Qureshi warned that US strikes on Pakistan's northwest could hamper its efforts, despite his government's public denunciation of such operations.
"It hurts us even more when the transgressor is our friend and ally, the US," the foreign minister said.
"If there are actions to be taken, the actions will be taken by Pakistan."
But the suspected US missile strike on Tuesday indicated that Washington was moving ahead with cross-border raids despite Pakistani protests.
The US has recently ramped up such operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in Pakistan's border zone with Afghanistan - a region considered a likely hiding place for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
In Tuesday's attack along the border, missiles fired by a US drone struck a Taliban commander's home near Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, said two Pakistani intelligence officials who asked for anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.
Citing reports from their field agents, the officials yesterday said six people died, but did not identify any of the victims.
US officials in Afghanistan or Washington rarely acknowledge the attacks.
Pakistan says the attacks often result in civilian casualties and serve to fan extremism. American officials complain that Pakistan is unwilling or unable to act against the militants.
