Washington: Pakistanis were leery of their government's anti-terror cooperation with the United States even before President George W. Bush authorised US military action inside Pakistan without their government's approval, according to a poll out on Friday.
The poll by the Gallup organisation, taken in June, found that almost half the Pakistanis, or 45 per cent, thought the US military presence across the border in Afghanistan posed a threat to Pakistan. Only 17 per cent said it was not a threat and more than one-third, 38 per cent of respondents, had no opinion or would not answer.
Bush's July approval of US incursions across the Afghan-Pakistani border came to light after reports appeared about the US operations, mainly comprising drone missile strikes at suspected Taliban or Al Qaeda sites on Pakistani territory.
US and Pakistani forces exchanged gunfire last Saturday for the first time. At least 12 Pakistanis were killed on Friday in two suspected US missile strikes against villages near the border. Pakistani intelligence officials said most of the dead were militants.
After the first known ground assault, which occurred on September 3, became public, Pakistanis reacted with outrage. The new president, Asif Ali Zardari, warned that Pakistan's territory cannot "be violated by our friends".
