By DPA,
Washington : US military special forces have been given approval by President George W. Bush to mount ground attacks inside Pakistan against terrorist and Afghan insurgent targets, The New York Times reported Thursday on its website.
The orders were given in July, the newspaper reported, citing senior US officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
The orders expand existing US policy to carry out airstrikes inside Pakistan using unmanned drone aircraft against targets of Al Qaeda, the terrorist network led by Osama bin Laden.
Al Qaeda and the ousted Afghan militant regime that continues to mount an insurgent campaign, Taliban have continued to operate from safe havens inside Pakistan’s tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
The Times quoted one US official as calling conditions in Pakistan’s tribal areas “not tolerable.”
Navy commandos conducted a ground raid last week inside Pakistan without seeking permission and notified the US ally only after the incursion.