Pakistani airstrike sparks protests ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP)  Missiles fired by Pakistani helicopters destroyed a religious school on the Afghan border Monday that the military said was a front for an al-Qaeda training camp, killing 80 people and prompting strong protests against the country's president and the United States. About 10,000 tribesmen, including armed militants, rallied Tuesday near the site in the northwestern town of Khar, chanting: "God is Great," "Death to Bush! Death to Musharraf!" and "Anyone who is a friend of America is traitor." Islamic leaders and al-Qaeda-linked militants had called for nationwide demonstrations to condemn what they claimed was an American assault on Pakistani soil. The army said those who died were militants, but furious villagers and religious leaders said the pre-dawn missile barrage killed innocent students and teachers at the school, known as a madrassa. U.S. and Pakistani military officials initially denied American involvement and rejected claims that children and women died in the strike that flattened the building in the remote northwestern village of Chingai, two miles from the Afghan border. However, a Pakistani army spokesman on Tuesday said Pakistan used intelligence provided by the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan in the raid. Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan declined to say how much help was provided by the coalition, but stressed that U.S. forces didn't fire any missiles. "Intelligence sharing was definitely there, but to say they (the coalition) have carried out the operation, that is absolutely wrong," Sultan told The Associated Press. Col. Tom Collins, a U.S. military spokesman, said it is common knowledge that the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan share intelligence as part of a three-way military agreement. But he said he had no information regarding the recent operation in Pakistan. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been under intense pressure, particularly from the United States and Afghanistan, to rein in militant groups, particularly along the porous Pakistan-Afghan frontier, where Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri are believed to be hiding. The Pakistani leader, along with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, met with President Bush in Washington last month to address the issue. Among those killed in Monday's attack was Liaquat Hussain, a cleric who had sheltered militants in the past and was believed associated with al-Zawahri. The raid was launched after the madrassa's leaders, headed by Hussain, rejected government warnings to stop using the school as a training camp for terrorists, said army spokesman Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan. "These militants were involved in actions inside Pakistan and probably in Afghanistan," Sultan told The Associated Press. Militant groups in Bajur are believed to ferry fighters, weapons and supplies to Afghanistan to target U.S. forces there and Pakistani soldiers on this side of the ethnic-Pashtun majority tribal belt. The raid threatens efforts by Musharraf to persuade deeply conservative tribespeople to back his government over pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters, who enjoy strong support in many semiautonomous regions in northern Pakistan. The planned signing of a peace deal between tribal leaders and the military was canceled Monday in response to the airstrike. At Tuesday's protest in Khar, loudspeakers blared songs urging people to wage holy war, or jihad, as protesters gathered in a large field in the town, located about 6 miles from Chingai village. "We will continue our jihad. We will take revenge for the blood of our martyrs," local Islamic cleric, Maulana Roohul Amin, told the crowd. "The forces of infidelity are trying to erase us from existence." Protests were also held Monday from the northwestern city of Peshawar to the southern city of Karachi, the largest taking place in Chingai and the Bajur district's main town of Khar, where 2,000 tribesmen and shopkeepers chanted "Death to Musharraf! Death to Bush!" Amid fears of unrest, Britain's Prince Charles, who arrived in Pakistan on Sunday for a five-day stay, canceled a visit planned for Tuesday to Peshawar. The raid was the country's deadliest military operation targeting suspected terrorists. Sultan said 80 people were killed in the building, which was 100 yards from the nearest house. Local political officials and Islamic leaders corroborated the death toll. The attack took place about two miles from Damadola, where in January a U.S. Predator drone aircraft fired a missile that purportedly targeted — and missed — al-Zawahri, but killed several al-Qaeda members and civilians instead. Sultan denied reports that al-Zawahri was in the area at the time of the attack. "It is all wrong, speculative and we launched this operation on our own to target a training facility," he said. A Bajur-area intelligence official said word was spreading among residents that al-Zawahri may have been expected at the madrassa, but he said the reports were wrong. Hussain, the cleric believed to have been a deputy of al-Zawahri, was among those killed, the intelligence official and residents said. Another al-Zawahri lieutenant, Faqir Mohammed, apparently left the madrassa 30 minutes before the strike, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media. Hours later, Mohammed addressed 10,000 mourners at a funeral for some of the victims. "We were peaceful, but the government attacked and killed our innocent people on orders from America," said Mohammed, who was surrounded by dozens of militants brandishing semiautomatic weapons. "It is an open aggression." Three funerals were held one after the other in a field near the madrassa, where the remains of at least 50 people were laid on wooden beds placed side by side in rows and covered with colored blankets. Villagers walked among the beds and offered prayers. One man strode through the crowd holding aloft — trophy-style — a severed, blackened hand. Militants, their faces covered with brown and red scarves, patrolled the crowd. On Saturday, Mohammed led a nearby rally of 5,000 pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda militants where he denounced the Pakistani and U.S. governments and praised bin Laden. Fears are high that the attack will fan unrest across Pakistan, which witnessed violent protests this year after European newspapers published cartoons of Islam's Prophet Muhammad, as well as the August killing of a ethnic-Baluch tribal chief in another Pakistani military raid. In Islamabad, Pakistan's most influential Islamist political leader blamed American forces for the attack, without providing evidence to support his claim, and called for protests Tuesday. "It was an American plane behind the attack and Pakistan is taking responsibility because they know there would be a civil war if the American responsibility was known," said Qazi Hussain Ahmed, leader of a six-party religious alliance opposed to Musharraf. Ahmed claimed that 30 children were among Monday's dead. But Sultan, the army spokesman, said no children or women were killed. Most victims' bodies were so mangled that positive identification was impossible. Thousands of tribespeople traveled from nearby villages to inspect Chingai's destroyed madrassa, many wailing and others chanting "Long live Islam." The blast leveled the building, tearing mattresses and scattering Islamic books, including copies of the Quran. "We heard helicopters flying in and then heard bombs," said one villager, Haji Youssef. "We were all saddened by what we have seen." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Enlarge AFP Pakistani tribesmen gather around the bodies of people who were killed Monday in an army operation near the Afghan border. Rubble from a house after airstrikes Monday in a Pakistani tribal area along the Afghan border.
AP
A poll commissioned by the news network Al Jazeera in Pakistan has concluded that a majority of Pakistanis believe that Pakistan's largest military aid donor, the United States, is the "biggest" threat to the country today.

The polling was conducted by Gallup Pakistan, an affiliate of Gallup International. Of the more than 2,600 Pakistanis polled 11% believed Taliban fighters to be the biggest threat, another 18% believed neighboring India to be the biggest threat to Pakistan. However, 59% (1,534) of the 2,600 Pakistanis polled believed that the United States is the biggest threat to Pakistan today.

A probable cause of resentment of the United States in Pakistan are the drone attacks, which are opposed by 66% of those polled, according to Al Jazeera. Drone attacks killed four civilians in Southern Afghanistan near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Wednesday, August, 5. In October, 2006, a drone attack hit a school in South Waziristan killing 80 people causing unrest in Pakistan.  

Other results of the poll showed that 67% of Pakistanis polled, oppose U.S military intervention on Pakistan soil. Another 41% support negotiations with the Taliban.  

The poll also revealed that some are dissatisfied with the current government of Pakistan, showing only 11% support for the current president, Asif Ali Zardari.    

A sample size of 2662 people (52% men and 48% women) across all four Pakistani provinces was utilized for face-to-face questioning. The poll was conducted on July 26 and 27, 2009 and is considered accurate to the 95% confidence level with a margin of error of +/- 2-3%.