September 4, 2008, Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan condemned Thursday a cross-border raid by Afghanistan-based international troops on a tribal village as "shameful" and unjustified, saying that only civilians had been targeted.

The fiery criticism from the foreign minister came after the US ambassador to Islamabad was summoned in protest at the incident in tribal South Waziristan, in which local officials said at least 15 people were killed.

Wednesday's raid marked the first time Pakistan has accused international troops based in Afghanistan of a direct attack on its soil since they were deployed in late 2001 to oust the hardline Taliban regime from power in Kabul.

Both the US-led coalition and the separate NATO-led security force operating in Afghanistan have said they have no knowledge of any such incident in South Waziristan, a known haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.

A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi decried the raid as unjustified, saying there had not been a "high-value target" in the village attacked, and called on foreign forces to review their rules of engagement.

"It is a regrettable, shameful and astonishing incident. We strongly condemn the unprovoked attack by ISAF and coalition forces," Qureshi said to the unanimous approval of MPs in the chamber.

"Only innocent children and women were targeted. Coalition forces will have to review their policy. Incidents like this will only fuel hatred among the tribal people."

The country's parliament later passed a unanimous motion castigating the raid.

The foreign minister's comments threatened to strain Pakistan's relationship with the United States. Islamabad has been one of Washington's closest allies in the US-led "war on terror" under former president Pervez Musharraf.

Earlier, foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq told AFP that the US ambassador to Islamabad had been summoned, "and a very strong protest was conveyed to her."

"The ambassador said that she would convey it to her government," Sadiq added.

The Pakistan army has also lodged a protest over the incident -- which according to a local official involved helicopters dropping troops into the village -- with the US Office of the Defence Representative in Pakistan.

A senior Pakistani official said that the coalition had indicated that Wednesday's early morning raid was carried out in response to rocket attacks that targeted their camp in Afghanistan late Tuesday.

Raids with helicopters or aircraft are extremely rare, but American media recently reported that the US was planning direct attacks on Pakistani soil, blaming Islamabad for failing to tackle militants based there.

A recent series of missile strikes targeting rebels in Pakistan has been attributed to US-led coalition forces or CIA drones based in Afghanistan.

There are about 70,000 international forces deployed under NATO and a separate US-led coalition in Afghanistan in an effort to help local forces repel the Islamic rebels.

Many have accused Pakistan's powerful intelligence service of quietly supporting the militants.

But violence in the tribal regions on the border has often spread from those remote areas to other parts of Pakistan, including the capital Islamabad.

Nearly 1,200 people have been killed in bombings and suicide attacks across the country in the past year.