ISLAMABAD, 19 October — US targeting blunders and fears that thousands of children could starve unless there is a pause in the bombing of Afghanistan are undermining support for the campaign among moderate voices in Pakistan. Pakistan’s continued cooperation is a linchpin of the US-led military campaign to wipe the Al-Qaeda network of alleged terrorist Osama Bin Laden and his Taleban backers in Afghanistan.

As well as providing a vital logistics base and intelligence network, the military regime of President Pervez Musharraf has offered full support for the "war against terrorism," in marked contrast to the equivocal stance adopted by other Muslim states.

Musharraf has managed to convince the vast majority of moderate Pakistanis to side with the international community, despite the noisy demonstrations by pro-Taleban radicals who see Bin Laden as a hero.

But with almost daily claims of civilian deaths from the Taleban, as well as obvious US mistakes such as this week’s bombing of a Red Cross warehouse, there is mounting disquiet among the mainstream of Pakistani society.

"Such inexcusable errors do not speak very highly of the targeting efficiency of the bombers and, more importantly, they seriously dent the stress that the war is not against the already suffering Afghan people," the News daily wrote in an editorial yesterday.

"Similarly, knocking out the already decrepit civic facilities like power stations will inconvenience the people far more (than they will inconvenience) the Taleban."

Concern is also growing in Pakistan, among ordinary people and international relief agencies alike, for the millions of Afghans likely to be caught without food or shelter when the bitter winter arrives in the next few weeks. "As many as 100,000 more children will die in Afghanistan this winter unless food reaches them in sufficient quantities in the next six weeks," said UNICEF spokesman Eric Laroche.

"If you are a child born in Afghanistan today, you are 25 times more likely to die before the age of five than an American or a French or a Saudi Arabian child."

Six international aid agencies on Wednesday called for a pause in the bombing to allow food supplies to be delivered before winter. "It is indeed tragic that an entire new generation of young Afghans should be allowed to perish as the US-led coalition wages its ‘war against terror’ in the name of upholding the values of the civilized world," the Dawn daily wrote in an editorial yesterday. "The war against terror should not become a ‘war of terror’ that will only go down in history as a terrible battle of revenge."

Musharraf is likely to visit Washington early next month, though the key purpose of his visiting the United States would be to attend the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. "UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited President Musharraf to attend UN General Assembly session," said a senior official.

When asked, the senior official said that no decision to going to New York or Washington has yet been taken. "I think the matter will be decided soon," he added. Some senior officials say if Musharraf decides to visit New York early November this year, there would be bright chances that he would also visit Washington for meeting President George Bush. "We cannot confirm or deny it, as things are moving fast and there exists a possibility of Pak-US summit," said the official.

As the two countries are working closely against terrorism, many senior officials see Musharraf visiting Washington, besides attending the UN session. If the president takes New York flight in these days, there would be another possibility of his meeting with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee, who was invited by him for pushing forward the Agra peace process in his recent telephonic talk.