Pakistan military blames U.S. for deaths of 11 soldiers
A U.S. airstrike killed members of a Pakistani unit. Pakistan's army denounces the attack; a U.S. spokesman says coalition troops were involved in a skirmish with Taliban fighters.
PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN — - The Pakistani military today angrily blamed a U.S. airstrike for the deaths of 11 of its soldiers during clashes between Western allied troops and Taliban militants along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In an unusually strong statement, the Pakistan army called the strike an "unprovoked and cowardly" attack that hit at the "very basis of cooperation" between the U.S. and Pakistan in combating terrorism. The army added that it reserved the right to protect Pakistani citizens from unwarranted aggression.
The statement said that 11 members of the Mohmand Rifles, including a major, were killed in the airstrike Tuesday night in the rugged tribal region bordering Afghanistan's Kunar province. The Mohmand Rifles are a Pakistani paramilitary force deployed to maintain security in the area, which is riddled with militant hide-outs.
Details surrounding the clashes were unclear. But a U.S. military spokesman at the Bagram air base outside Kabul, the Afghan capital, said today that soldiers of the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan came under fire from militants just inside the border in Kunar and struck back using "air support." He said that the coalition's operation in the area had been "previously coordinated with Pakistan."
Whatever the circumstances, the incident has aggravated tensions between Washington and Islamabad over how to deal with the Taliban and suspected Al Qaeda insurgents who the U.S. says operate freely on the Pakistani side of the border and infiltrate Afghanistan to mount attacks against coalition forces.
U.S. officials complain that attempts by the Pakistani government to negotiate with extremist groups in its tribal areas have allowed Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters to regroup there. U.S. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Tuesday that any new Al Qaeda attack on the U.S. would likely originate in Pakistan's western tribal regions.
Pakistani military sources said that Tuesday's U.S. airstrike occurred during a pitched battle between Taliban fighters and North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces working with the Afghan army. The sources accused Afghan troops of crossing into Pakistan to set up a checkpoint and said a U.S. warplane bombed a Pakistani outpost at Goraprai.
Maulvi Umar, a spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban, told the Dawn newspaper that eight of the group's fighters were killed repelling an attempt by NATO and Afghan soldiers to push into Pakistani territory.
But the U.S. military denied that account, saying in a statement that "at no time did coalition ground forces cross into Pakistan."
The statement said that coalition forces came under small-arms and rocket fire by "anti-Afghan forces" about 200 yards inside Kunar province. Coalition troops notified the Pakistan army that they were under attack and launched artillery, while unmanned drones in the air tracked the militants.
The coalition called in close air support until "the threat was eliminated," the statement said.
U.S. airstrikes in the area are not unknown, and are a source of friction between Washington and Islamabad.
henry.chu@latimes.com
Special correspondent Ali reported from Peshawar, Pakistan and Times staff writer Chu from New Delhi.
