No shared mistakes, Pakistan army says
Source: Agencies |
December 24, 2011, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE Pakistani army yesterday rejected a US investigation that concluded mistakes on both sides led to American airstrikes last month that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and severely damaged the already strained relationship between the two countries.
The Pakistani army has said its troops did nothing wrong and claimed the attack was a deliberate act of aggression.
Pakistan has retaliated by closing its Afghan border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan and kicking the US out of a base used by American drones. NATO officials have said the closure of the supply route has not affected operations so far, but it would eventually.
The army "does not agree with the findings of the US/NATO inquiry as being reported in the media," the force said. "The inquiry report is short on facts."
The army will provide a detailed response after officials receive the report, it said. Pakistan refused to cooperate in the investigation.
Even though US officials on Thursday accepted some blame for the attack on two army posts along the Afghan border and expressed regret for the deaths, they did not apologize for the incident, as many Pakistanis have demanded.
Instead, the US said its forces were fired on first and believed they were being targeted by Taliban insurgents. It it also claimed US forces did not know that the two relatively new Pakistani outposts had been set up.
The Pakistanis say their troops did not fire first and that it had given NATO maps that clearly marked where the outposts were located on a mountain ridge in the Mohmand tribal area.
The Pakistani army has said its troops did nothing wrong and claimed the attack was a deliberate act of aggression.
Pakistan has retaliated by closing its Afghan border to supplies meant for NATO troops in Afghanistan and kicking the US out of a base used by American drones. NATO officials have said the closure of the supply route has not affected operations so far, but it would eventually.
The army "does not agree with the findings of the US/NATO inquiry as being reported in the media," the force said. "The inquiry report is short on facts."
The army will provide a detailed response after officials receive the report, it said. Pakistan refused to cooperate in the investigation.
Even though US officials on Thursday accepted some blame for the attack on two army posts along the Afghan border and expressed regret for the deaths, they did not apologize for the incident, as many Pakistanis have demanded.
Instead, the US said its forces were fired on first and believed they were being targeted by Taliban insurgents. It it also claimed US forces did not know that the two relatively new Pakistani outposts had been set up.
The Pakistanis say their troops did not fire first and that it had given NATO maps that clearly marked where the outposts were located on a mountain ridge in the Mohmand tribal area.
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