The pre-dawn airstrike aimed at Ayman al-Zawahri in a remote Pakistani village was intended as a devastating blow to al-Qaida but it has strained ties with a key US ally in the war on terror and could provoke more anti-Americanism in the Islamic country, analysts said today.

INDIAN Prime Minister Manmohan Singh yesterday told Pakistan’s president there were indications of a foreign link to the bombings that struck two New Delhi markets, and reminded the Pakistani leader of his country’s promise to fight terrorism, an official said.

PAKISTAN and India made an unprecedented agreement yesterday to open their heavily militarised border in disputed Kashmir to aid the flow of relief goods and reunite divided families in the aftermath of South Asia’s colossal earthquake.