Pakistan pulls out of talks with US on Afghan war (UPDATES)

A day after a rare public rebuke of U.S. forces from Pakistan's army chief, Islamabad on Friday pulled out of upcoming talks with the U.S. on the war in Afghanistan.

The move was meant to convey Islamabad's anger over an American drone missile strike that reportedly killed civilians in Pakistan's northwest tribal region along the Afghan border, according to the LA Times.

Gen. Ashfaq Kayani on Thursday harshly slammed the drone attack that killed up to 40 people in North Waziristan, a Taliban stronghold. Kayani said in a statement that the strike had "carelessly and callously targeted" a meeting of elders, the Wall Street Journal reported.

"In complete violation of human rights, such acts of violence take us away from our objective of elimination of terrorism," he said.

A U.S. official dismissed the general's statement, saying: "These guys were terrorists, not the local men's glee club."

Pakistan demanded an apology and explanation from the United States for the attack, AFP reported.

The attack hit a militant training compound in Datta Khel, about 25 miles from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan. It was one of 12 to hit the country on Thursday.

The Pakistani military often laments the loss of life from such attacks but rarely criticizes the drones, BBC reports.

In addition to the army chief, Pakistan's prime minister, foreign ministry and governor of the local province condemned the strike.

Pakistan's foreign ministry called it a "flagrant violation of all humanitarian rules and norms," the Wall Street Journal reported.

There were conflicting reports on who was killed in the incident. The governor of the province told AFP that the attack killed peaceful citizens holding a meeting, but an intelligence official in Miranshah said most of the victims were local militants.

Drone strikes, which have increased in the past year, inflame anti-U.S. sentiment in Pakistan.

The furor over the attack comes as anti-U.S. protests broke out in Pakistan Thursday after charges were dropped against a CIA contractor accused of gunning down two men in the eastern city of Lahore, according to GlobalPost correspondent Aamir Latif.

Raymond Davis was freed on Wednesday after "blood money" totaling more than $2 million was paid to families of the victims, closing a case that had caused a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Pakistan.

Latif reports that thousands of Pakistanis took to the streets Thursday shouting, "America's friends are traitors," and "Justice is not for sale."

According to a statement by the Foreign Ministry, announcing that Pakistan would not take part in talks with Afghanistan and the U.S. scheduled for Brussels on March 26, Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir told U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter that drone strikes "constituted a flagrant violation of humanitarian norms and law."

— Hanna Ingber Win