Blair's aides denounce US 'blundering' in Afghan war

Senior officials in the Prime Minister's office have launched an astonishing attack on America's handling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden and al-Qa'eda fugitives.

They have told The Telegraph that troops carrying out house-to-house searches in the remote tribal areas of Pakistan along the Afghanistan border were "blundering" with a "march-in-shooting" approach.

The US action was "backfiring", increasing support for terrorism and making it harder for bin Laden and his henchmen to be caught.

"The Americans think they and the Pakistanis can just march in shooting", said an official closely involved in the direction of the war.

"They don't understand the sensitivities. We have years of experience in the tribal areas and we know using force will just backfire and increase sympathy for al-Qa'eda."

The comments will put further strain on Anglo-US relations after a week of tensions over the Middle East policy and the introduction of steel tariffs.

The scale of the divide between London and Washington was made plain by scathing comments about the Bush administration by one British minister involved in negotiations over the steel tariffs.

"You have to remember that this is a rather unpleasant administration," the minister told The Telegraph yesterday. "The fact there has been a full-blooded attempt to forge a relationship with it hasn't changed its fundamental nature - protectionist and self-interested."