Police in Pakistan have broken up several anti-air strike protests in the border city of Peshawar. Angry students attempted to demonstrate against the US attacks on Afghanistan. Witnesses said that police used teargas to break up the students.
Earlier, Pakistan said Afghanistan's Taliban rulers brought the U.S.-led military strikes on themselves, but hoped the operation would be brief and spare civilians.
"We regret that diplomatic efforts to convince the Taliban leadership to respond to the international demands did not succeed and now military action has started against the Taliban regime," according to a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad.
"Pakistan did whatever it could to convince the Taliban leadership of the gravity of the situation and take the right decisions in the interest of the Afghan people," the statement said.
Pakistan tried repeatedly to persuade the Taliban to hand-over Osama bin Laden, Washington's prime suspect in last month's attacks on the United States.
General Pervez Musharraf, the country's military ruler, has scheduled a televised news conference for Monday at which he's expected to discuss the attacks against his erstwhile Taliban allies.
The Pakistani authorities had sought international recognition for the radical Islamic movement, but it joined the U.S.-led coalition in a "war on terrorism" after the September 11 attacks..
Islamabad promised to support a U.S.-led action in Afghanistan by sharing intelligence information, allowing use of its airspace and providing unspecified logistical support.
Before tonight's military attacks, Pakistan made their first clear move against pro-Taliban Islamic groups by putting a prominent radical leader under house arrest.
The order confining Maulana Fazlur Rehman to his home near the Afghan border was issued hours before he was due to address an anti-American protest.
Mr Rehman is the first prominent pro-Taliban supporter to be detained in Pakistan. His party has been involved in almost daily protests against threatened American military strikes on Afghanistan.
