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US air strike kills 11 Pak troops; Islamabad lodges strong protest |
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An American air and artillery strike last week killed 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers along the volatile Afghan border. Pakistan has lodged a strong protest, but the US insists that the main target was Taliban operating from there.
The incident occurred on the Pak-Afghan border at the Chopara checkpost in the Mohmand agency following an initial clash between Afghan and NATO troops chasing infiltrators. A subsequent US air attack called in by the troops in hot pursuit resulted in the death of 11 Pakistani troops. Some reports said upto 40 Pakistani troops were still missing. Pakistani officials said the fighting broke out after Afghan troops tried to set up a mountaintop post in a contested part of the lawless frontier and Pakistani security forces told them to withdraw. But, according to accounts from American officials, the incident started when Taliban fighters from Pakistan crossed about 200 yards into Kunar Province, on the Afghan side of the border and attacked American-led forces with small caliber weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire. After coalition forces returned fire, driving the insurgents back into Pakistan, two US Air Force F-15E fighter bombers and one B-1 bomber dropped about a dozen bombs, mostly 500 pound munition – on the attackers. An Air Force statement said, the militants were struck in the open and in buildings in the vicinity of Asadabad.
The incident, the worst of its kind since Pakistan joined the “war on terror” in 2001, came amid growing unease in Washington and Kabul over Pakistan’s efforts to negotiate with Taliban militants in the region. The attack came hours after the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Michael Mullen, warned that any future terror attack against US interests would most likely be carried out by Islamic militants based in Pakistan’s tribal belt bordering Afghanistan.
There was fury from Pakistani officials following the attack. In the border region, heavily armed Pakistani tribesmen brandishing rocket launchers and Kalashnikov rifles gathered near the checkpost in the mountainous Gora Prai area to show their support after the attack.
The Pakistan Army lodged a strong protest and said it reserved the right to protect its citizens and soldiers against aggression. “Chanting slogans of “Down with America” and “Down with Bush”, about 250 activists of an Islamic group paraded on the roads of Ghalanai, Mohmand’s main town, to protest.
The Army said the coalition air strike hit a post of the paramilitary Frontier Corps and was a “completely unprovoked and cowardly attack”. “The incident has hit at the very basis of cooperation and sacrifice with which Pakistani soldiers are supporting the coalition in the war against terror”, the Army statement said. Prime Minister Gilani condemned the attack strongly and said, “We will take a stand to preserve the sovereignty, dignity and respect of the country.” The Pakistan Foreign Ministry summoned US Ambassador Anne Patterson to register protest. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said, “The senseless use of air power against a Pakistani border post was totally unacceptable”. The Ministry said the attack “constitutes a blatant and wilful negation of the huge sacrifices” by Pakistan in the war on terror. It said the incident ought to warrant a “serious rethink” by the coalition forces on the consequences of such “rash acts”.
The US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have disputed Pakistan’s version of the serial attack. The US released a video to prove that the aerial strike was in self-defence and aimed at Taliban militants who were firing on coalition forces and the attack was carried out in “coordination with Pakistan.” In Washington, Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Moreil said that every indication “we have is that the action taken by US forces was legitimate and in self-defence” after they came under attack from hostile forces. In self-defence, they called in an air strike which took out those forces that were attacking them, he said. The spokesman was evasive when asked if the Pakistani troops who died had been firing at the US forces. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has invited Pakistan to join in the investigation into the incident, saying he regretted it had created a problem with a key ally. The Pakistan Army has agreed with the US military to conduct a joint investigation, Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on June 12 after a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
While the Pentagon was sticking to its stand that the attack was legitimate, it was left to the State Department to put on the diplomatic bandage.
This is the first time that Pakistan has come out so strongly against a coalition attack on its territory. Despite public anger at such attacks earlier as an infringement of Pakistani sovereignty, official criticism was muted under the Musharraf regime. The relations between the US and Pakistani militaries are said to be at their lowest since 9/11, particularly after the new PPP-led government began doing peace deals with militants in the tribal areas. Pakistan has given wide latitude to militants in its border areas under a new series of peace deals, drawing criticism from the US, NATO and American commanders who say cross border attacks in Afghanistan by insurgents have risen sharply since talks for those peace deals began in March.
Meanwhile, the Pakistan Government has denied reports that it has scrapped its peace deal with the Taliban as militants have reneged on their promise to stop violence.
Political analysts say America and Pakistan will have to work harder to stop their alliance from souring after the air attack by US-led forces that killed 11 people. While Pakistan is unlikely to weaken its cooperation with the US in the battle against the Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, analysts say the Mohmand incident has intensified pressure on Pakistan’s two-month-old civilian government to draw a line. Previously, the US had a direct relationship with President Musharraf, who came to power in a coup in 1999 and became Washington’s close ally in the war on terror after the Al-Qaeda attacks in 2001. But, the new Government has asserted itself and US diplomats and military commanders now have to deal with politicians who are answerable to the people, many of whom believe it is America’s war, not theirs. It is against the policy of reconciliation with the Taliban militants in Pakistan, according to a senior Pakistani journalist, Ahmed Erashad. In his new book, “Descent into Chaos”, he claimed that on January 9 this year, Mike McConnell, Director of the National Intelligence and Gen. Michael Hayden, Director of the CIA, visited Islamabad where they discussed a plan to make operational in FATA a secret CIA base that could mount attacks on militants by drones armed with missiles.
In another development, a study published by the Rand Corporation on June 10 has said Pakistani intelligence agents and paramilitary forces have helped train Taliban insurgents and have given them information about American troop movements in Afghanistan. The study also warned that the US will face “crippling, long-term consequences” in Afghanistan if Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan are not eliminated. It echoes recent statements by the America Generals who have increased their warnings that militant safe havens in Pakistan are threatening efforts in Afghanistan. The study was funded by the US Defence Department.
Pakistan’s top military spokesman rejected the findings of the study “Counter-insurgency in Afghanistan” which found that some active and former officials in Pakistan’s intelligence service and the Frontier Corps – a Pakistani paramilitary force deployed along the Afghan border – provided direct assistance to Taliban militants and helped secure medical care for wounded fighters. It said, NATO officials have uncovered several instances of Pakistani intelligence agents providing information to Taliban fighters, even “tipping off Taliban forces about the location and movement of Afghan and coalition forces which undermined several US and NATO anti-Taliban military operations.”
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