No US aid for Pakistani units suspected of abuses: official

“There are allegations out there. We are concerned about them,” said the official,who spoke on condition of anonymity. “The United States must obey the law.”

Pakistan’s military has come under international scrutiny from rights groups after an Internet video surfaced showing men in Pakistani military uniforms executing six young men in civilian clothes.

Reports of summary executions have circulated for months but the move to withhold US aid to some units indicated the US administration was taking the issue seriously.

The decision was sure to further strain difficult relations with Pakistan just as US leaders try to reassure Islamabad after a cross-border raid by NATO helicopters left two Pakistani soldiers dead.

General Ashfaq Kayani,Pakistan’s powerful army chief,has issued orders to troops on the correct treatment of detainees and has launched an investigation into the alleged extrajudicial killings,officials said.

During three days of high-level talks this week in Washington,top US military officer Admiral Mike Mullen raised US concerns about rights abuses with General Kayani.

“The chairman’s comfortable that General Kayani shares the same concerns and that he’s taking appropriate steps to hold his commanders accountable for their conduct and their troops,” Mullen’s spokesman Captain John Kirby told AFP.