Meanwhile, the uproar over a deadly US ground assault in neighboring Pakistan is growing. Pakistani officials say at least twenty civilians were killed after helicopters delivered a US-led unit into Pakistan. US forces are said to have fired inside three homes containing women and children. Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi condemned the attack.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: “Yesterday, a regrettable, shameful and startling incident occurred in which the coalition forces, the ISAF forces, entered Pakistani territory and carried out an action. The government of Pakistan strongly condemns this act.”

The attack marks the first time the US has used ground troops inside Pakistan.