Red Warrior
11-06-2008, 01:11 PM
Pakistan's military has condemned what it says was an air strike by US-led forces that killed 11 Pakistani troops as a "cowardly attack".
Details of the incident on the border with Afghanistan are still unclear.
Reports suggest it took place as US-led forces operating in Afghanistan were tackling pro-Taleban militants.
The US military confirmed it had carried out the operation, which comes amid rising tensions between the US and Pakistan militaries.
The soldiers' deaths occurred overnight at a border post in the mountainous Gora Prai region in Mohmand, one of Pakistan's tribal areas, across the border from Afghanistan's Kunar province.
Eight Taleban militants were also killed in the clashes, a Taleban spokesman said.
A spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan confirmed to the BBC that the operation on the border was carried out by US forces, but said the military had no further comment to make.
'Act of aggression'
In a statement, the Pakistani military quoted a spokesman who condemned "this completely unprovoked and cowardly act", which it blamed on "coalition forces".
The spokesman said the incident "hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in war against terror" and added that the army had launched a "strong protest".
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the statement was very strongly worded, describing the incident as an "act of aggression".
Our correspondent says the incident seems to have been an operation against Taleban militants that went wrong.
But details remain sketchy of how the initial clashes broke out.
Maulvi Umar, spokesman for a pro-Taleban militant group in Pakistan, told the BBC that the militants attacked Nato and Afghan forces when they tried to cross the border to the Pakistan side. Subsequently, he said, air strikes were called in, and the Pakistani checkpoint was hit.
A spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that their forces were fired on from across the border and retaliated by firing back.
Low ebb
Both US forces and a Nato-led coalition forces are operating in Afghanistan, with Nato focused on peacekeeping and reconstruction and the US troops working more directly to combat militant activity.
An unnamed senior Nato official told the BBC an attack had been carried out by US - not Nato - forces.
The US has in the past launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory from unmanned aircraft, although it does not officially confirm such attacks.
Our correspondents says these strikes have caused anger in Pakistan as they are widely seen as a violation of its sovereignty, and there has been a lot of disquiet in Pakistan during the past month over the issue.
She says that if one of these air strikes did kill some Pakistani soldiers, it will certainly not help US-Pakistan relations, which some analysts say seem to be at their lowest ebb since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
Pakistani troops have been killed in "friendly fire" on the border with Afghanistan on several occasions in the past.
But the latest is thought to have been the most deadly single incident.
'Smear campaign'
Taleban fighters have a strong presence in the border areas of the tribal districts and local administrators have little power there, although security forces keep a presence on the border posts.
Afghan and US-led forces accuse Islamabad of failing to stop infiltration by Taleban fighters who take refuge in Pakistan's tribal belt along the frontier, and are worried that the Pakistani government's recent peace talks with militants there will only give the Taleban more room for manoeuvre.
Pakistan says Nato and Afghan troops are not doing enough to monitor their side of the border, and that US air strikes that target suspected militants in the tribal areas only inflame the situation.
Also on Wednesday, Pakistan's military denounced a report by the US-funded Rand corporation accusing Pakistan's intelligence services and its paramilitaries of supporting Taleban insurgents with information and training.
The Pakistani military dismissed the claims as "factually incorrect" and "yet another smear campaign maligning Pakistan armed forces".
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, four civilians were killed in an operation by US-led forces in south-eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said.
Three women and a child died as troops targeted two militant leaders in Paktika province, killing "several" militants and detaining 12, a US military spokeswoman said.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press 31 people had died, mostly militants, while a local lawmaker told the news agency nine civilians had been killed. The death tolls could not be verified.
Source: BBC
Details of the incident on the border with Afghanistan are still unclear.
Reports suggest it took place as US-led forces operating in Afghanistan were tackling pro-Taleban militants.
The US military confirmed it had carried out the operation, which comes amid rising tensions between the US and Pakistan militaries.
The soldiers' deaths occurred overnight at a border post in the mountainous Gora Prai region in Mohmand, one of Pakistan's tribal areas, across the border from Afghanistan's Kunar province.
Eight Taleban militants were also killed in the clashes, a Taleban spokesman said.
A spokesman for the US forces in Afghanistan confirmed to the BBC that the operation on the border was carried out by US forces, but said the military had no further comment to make.
'Act of aggression'
In a statement, the Pakistani military quoted a spokesman who condemned "this completely unprovoked and cowardly act", which it blamed on "coalition forces".
The spokesman said the incident "hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in war against terror" and added that the army had launched a "strong protest".
The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the statement was very strongly worded, describing the incident as an "act of aggression".
Our correspondent says the incident seems to have been an operation against Taleban militants that went wrong.
But details remain sketchy of how the initial clashes broke out.
Maulvi Umar, spokesman for a pro-Taleban militant group in Pakistan, told the BBC that the militants attacked Nato and Afghan forces when they tried to cross the border to the Pakistan side. Subsequently, he said, air strikes were called in, and the Pakistani checkpoint was hit.
A spokesman for the Nato-led Isaf forces in Afghanistan told the BBC that their forces were fired on from across the border and retaliated by firing back.
Low ebb
Both US forces and a Nato-led coalition forces are operating in Afghanistan, with Nato focused on peacekeeping and reconstruction and the US troops working more directly to combat militant activity.
An unnamed senior Nato official told the BBC an attack had been carried out by US - not Nato - forces.
The US has in the past launched missile strikes into Pakistani territory from unmanned aircraft, although it does not officially confirm such attacks.
Our correspondents says these strikes have caused anger in Pakistan as they are widely seen as a violation of its sovereignty, and there has been a lot of disquiet in Pakistan during the past month over the issue.
She says that if one of these air strikes did kill some Pakistani soldiers, it will certainly not help US-Pakistan relations, which some analysts say seem to be at their lowest ebb since the 11 September 2001 attacks on the US.
Pakistani troops have been killed in "friendly fire" on the border with Afghanistan on several occasions in the past.
But the latest is thought to have been the most deadly single incident.
'Smear campaign'
Taleban fighters have a strong presence in the border areas of the tribal districts and local administrators have little power there, although security forces keep a presence on the border posts.
Afghan and US-led forces accuse Islamabad of failing to stop infiltration by Taleban fighters who take refuge in Pakistan's tribal belt along the frontier, and are worried that the Pakistani government's recent peace talks with militants there will only give the Taleban more room for manoeuvre.
Pakistan says Nato and Afghan troops are not doing enough to monitor their side of the border, and that US air strikes that target suspected militants in the tribal areas only inflame the situation.
Also on Wednesday, Pakistan's military denounced a report by the US-funded Rand corporation accusing Pakistan's intelligence services and its paramilitaries of supporting Taleban insurgents with information and training.
The Pakistani military dismissed the claims as "factually incorrect" and "yet another smear campaign maligning Pakistan armed forces".
Meanwhile, in a separate incident, four civilians were killed in an operation by US-led forces in south-eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said.
Three women and a child died as troops targeted two militant leaders in Paktika province, killing "several" militants and detaining 12, a US military spokeswoman said.
An Interior Ministry spokesman told the Associated Press 31 people had died, mostly militants, while a local lawmaker told the news agency nine civilians had been killed. The death tolls could not be verified.
Source: BBC