US Senator Calls for Military Action against Pakistan, Pakistanis Protest US Intervention

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said that the United States should consider military action against Pakistan if Islamabad continues to sponsor militant attacks against US troops in Afghanistan.

"The sovereign nation of Pakistan is engaging in hostile acts against the United States and our ally Afghanistan that must cease," said Graham, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the Associated Press reported on Sunday.

"They're killing American soldiers," he noted, adding, "If they continue to embrace terrorism as a part of their national strategy, we're going to have to put all options on the table, including defending our troops."

Graham warned that Pakistan should choose between supporting the Haqqani militant network and helping the US fight al-Qaeda.

Graham also urged Washington to reconsider its financial assistance to Islamabad.
The security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan has severely deteriorated since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan under the pretext of 'war on terror' with steadily growing terror attacks in both countries.

Meanwhile, thousands of Pakistanis have held an anti-US rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, slamming the American government for what they called its intervention in Pakistan's internal affairs.

The activists of Pakistan's largest religious party, Jamaat-e-Islami, on Sunday called for an end to unauthorized US drone attacks in the country's tribal regions that have left many civilians dead.

The US has stepped up its unauthorized airstrikes in Pakistan since President Barack Obama took office in 2009.

Pakistan has also strongly condemned violation of its airspace by US-led forces stationed in Afghanistan. Washington claims the airstrikes target militants, but most of the attacks result in civilian casualties.