Tension grew as NATO attacked outposts in northwest Pakistan

Tension grew as NATO attacked outposts in northwest Pakistan

On Saturday, NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan, killing the 24 soldiers and wounding 13 others, the army said.

Pakistan’s military denied reports that NATO forces in Afghanistan had come under fire before launching the attack. Abbas said the attack lasted two hours despite warnings from Pakistani border posts.

"They were contacted through the local hotline and also there had been contacts through the director-general of military operations. But despite that, this continued," he said.

After a string of deadly incidents in the lawless and confusing border region, NATO and Pakistan set up a hotline that should allow them to communicate in case of confusion over targets, and avoid friendly fire.

ATO described the killings as a "tragic, unintended incident" and said an investigation was underway. A Western official and an Afghan security official who requested anonymity said NATO troops were responding to fire from across the border.

Pakistan’s military said the strike was unprovoked and has reserved the right to retaliate.

Both explanations are possibly correct: that a retaliatory attack by NATO troops took a tragic, mistaken turn in harsh terrain where differentiating friend from foe can be difficult.

An Afghan Taliban commander, Mullah Samiullah Rahmani, said the group had not been engaged in any fighting with NATO or Afghan forces in the area when the incident took place.

The incident has hurt Washington’s efforts both to ease a crisis in relations with Islamabad and stabilize the region as it tries to wind down the war in Afghanistan.

"This could have serious consequences in the level and extent of our cooperation," military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told Reuters.

Adding a new element to tensions, and a diplomatic boost for Islamabad, Pakistan’s ally China said it was "deeply shocked" by the incident and expressed "strong concern for the victims and profound condolences for Pakistan."

"China believes that Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity should be respected and the incident should be thoroughly investigated and be handled properly," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement on the ministry’s
website.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=4939

Posted by Hassan Ali on Nov 28 2011. Filed under Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry