Standard procedures violated in unprovoked Nato strike: DGMO

RAWALPINDI: Terming the strikes on Pakistani posts by Nato and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) unprovoked act of blatant aggression, Director General, Military Operations, Maj. Gen. Ishfaq Nadeem said on Tuesday that attacks were not unintended in which all coordination procedures were violated.

“The positions of the posts were already conveyed to the Isaf through map references and it was impossible that they did not know these to be our posts,” he said while briefing columnists, defence analysts and television anchorpersons here at GHQ.

Chief of Lt General Staff, General Waheed Arshad was also present during the briefing.

The DGMO said that there were four border communication centres to coordinate operations against militants but, unfortunately, all Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) were violated by Isaf and North Atlantic Tearty Organization (Nato) on the night of attack.

The area where the attacks were carried out was already cleared of the militants by Pakistani forces and there was not any cross border movement of terrorists from Pakistan to Afghan territory, he added.

The DG MO apprised that prior to the incident, there had been three attacks which were carried out from across the border in 2008, 2010 and 2011 killing 14 Pakistani soldiers and injuring another 13 troops.

“No information regarding inquiry of these attacks was shared or provided to us despite our repeated requests and when provided, it was inaccurate and incomplete,” he added.

Giving details of the incident, he said after the midnight on November 26, 2 to 3 helicopters appeared and started engaging Volcano post breaking down all communication systems.

In response, the Boulder post engaged helicopters with anti aircraft guns and all available weapons. The helicopter also attacked the post.

He said all channels of coordination methods were immediately activated.

“We informed them about the attack. But, the helicopters reappeared and also engaged the Boulder post.”

In both attacks, 24 soldiers including two officers embraced martyrdom while 15 others sustained injuries, he added.

He said that army deployment on the Western border was not against Isaf and Nato forces rather it was against militants.

When asked why did the Isaf and Nato attack on Pakistani posts and what type of advantage they wanted to get, he said that people could better analyse in the backdrop of environment emerged after the May 2 incident.

The DG MO said the response of the government was adequate while mentioning the Defence Cabinet Committee (DCC) meeting and vacation of Shamsi airbase.

About Pakistan Air Force response, he said the situation was not clear till morning so considering on ground situation which was not clear, the PAF was not asked to respond.

He said that the president, prime minister and defence minister were informed about the incident on the next morning after situation became clear.

Maj. Gen. Nadeem further said that Army take deaths of civilians in Drone attacks very seriously as those were proving counter-productive and increasing militancy.

Regarding Afghan media reports about shelling on Afghans from Pakistani side, he said that Afghan media reports were totally incorrect and there was no truth in them.

The Afghan government officials have agreed that the information shared by locals with them was totally wrong.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Pakistan cable operators threaten Western TV news ban

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani cable television operators on Tuesday threatened to block Western news channels they say are anti-Pakistani, as fury spread over a Nato attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

“We want to send them a strong message to stop this. If they don’t stop this, then it is our right to stop them,” Khalid Arain, president of the All Pakistan Cable Operators Association said in a live press conference. The BBC was the focus of criticism.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Pakistan to boycott Bonn meet on Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will boycott an international conference on Afghanistan’s future in Bonn next week to protest against a Nato cross-border attack that killed two dozen of its soldiers and plunged the region deeper into crisis, officials said on Tuesday.

“Pakistan has decided not to attend the Bonn conference as a protest,” a government official told Reuters after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Lahore.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

PM to call parliament’s joint session on Mohmand, memogate

LAHORE: Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday announced to summon a joint session of the parliament after the recommendations of the parliamentary committee on National Security to discuss the Mohmand incident and the controversial memo affair.

He was chairing the meeting of federal cabinet here.

The cabinet agreed that unilateral actions like the Abbottabad incident and the attack in Mohmand were “not acceptable”.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar briefed the cabinet on the incident and apprised it of ongoing diplomatic efforts to highlight the violation of Pakistan’s territorial sovereignty and that of international law.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

Pakistan strike probe report due next month: US

KABUL: A US-led investigation into a Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani troops near the Afghan border will report its initial findings by December 23, officials said Tuesday.

The chief of US Central Command, which oversees US forces in Afghanistan and the Middle East, appointed Brigadier General Stephen Clark, a one-star air force general, to lead the investigation, the US military announced.

The probe is expected to provide an initial report by December 23, it added.

Pakistan has reacted to Saturday’s air strike with fury, cutting off crucial supply routes to Nato forces in Afghanistan, and ordering US personnel to vacate an air base reportedly used by CIA drones and a review of US relations.

Clark will lead the investigation with input from Nato and its International Security Assistance Force.

The Afghan and Pakistani governments are also being invited to take part, despite Pakistan’s furious response to the attack.

“It is USCENTCOM’s intent to include these government representatives to the maximum extent possible to determine what happened and preclude it from happening again,” the US military said.

“The investigation team will focus their efforts on the facts of the incident and any matters that facilitate a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding the deaths and injuries of the Pakistani forces.” ISAF sent an initial assessment team to the border over the weekend.

A Western military official in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the probe team had yet to arrive in Afghanistan but insisted its findings would be reported “way quicker” than initially expected.

The source said it was not unusual for US Central Command to carry out this kind of investigation rather than ISAF, which usually undertakes probes into incidents such as civilian casualties.

ISAF refused to comment when asked whether US Special Forces had been operating in the area when the air strikes were called in.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

US suspects Nato forces lured into deadly raid

WASHINGTON: Nato forces may have been lured into attacking friendly Pakistani border posts in a calculated manoeuvre by the Taliban, according to preliminary US military reports on the deadliest friendly fire incident with Pakistan since the war began.

The Nato air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers over the weekend in an apparent case of mistaken identity, The Associated Press has learned.

A joint US-Afghan patrol was attacked by the Taliban early Saturday morning, and while pursuing the enemy in the poorly marked border area, seem to have mistaken one of the Pakistan troop outposts for a militant encampment and called in a Nato gunship and attack helicopters to open fire.

US officials say the account suggests the Taliban may have deliberately tried to provoke a cross-border firefight that would set back fragile partnerships between the US and Nato forces and Pakistani soldiers at the ill-defined border.

Officials described the records on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters.

The incident sent the perpetually difficult US-Pakistan relationship into a tailspin.

Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, announced Monday that he has appointed Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, an Air Force special operations officer, to lead the probe of the incident, and said he must include input from the Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, as well as representatives from the Afghan and Pakistani governments.

According to the US military records described to the AP, the joint US and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants.

Officials described the records on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters.

Before responding, the joint US-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistani army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said.

Some two hours later, still hunting the insurgents who had by now apparently fled in the direction of Pakistani border posts, the US commander spotted what he thought was a militant encampment, with heavy weapons mounted on tripods.

Then the joint patrol called for the air strikes at around 2:21 a.m. Pakistani time, not realising the encampment was the Pakistani border post.

Records show the aerial response included Apache attack helicopters and an AC-130 gunship.

US officials are working on the assumption the Taliban chose the location for the first attack, to create just such confusion, and draw US and Pakistani forces into firing on each other, according to US officials briefed on the operation.

At the White House, spokesman Jay Carney said President Barack Obama considers the Pakistani deaths a tragedy, and said the administration is determined to investigate.

The Pentagon released a four-page memo from Centcom commander Mattis to the general he named to lead the inquiry. Mattis directed Clark to determine what happened, which units were involved, which ones did or did not cross the border, how the operation was coordinated, and what caused the deaths and injuries.

Mattis asked Clark to also make any recommendations about how border operations could be improved, and he said the final report should be submitted by December 23.

The details emerged as aftershocks of the Nato airstrike were reverberating across the US military and diplomatic landscape Monday, threatening communications and supply lines for the Afghan war and the success of an upcoming international conference.

While US officials expressed regret and sympathy over the cross-border incident, they are not acknowledging blame, amid conflicting reports about who fired first.

The airstrike was politically explosive as well as deadly, coming as US officials were working to repair relations with the Pakistanis after a series of major setbacks, including the US commando raid into Pakistan in May that killed Osama bin Laden.

In recent weeks, military leaders had begun expressing some optimism that US-Pakistan military cooperation along the border was beginning to improve.

US Army Maj. Gen. Daniel Allyn told Pentagon reporters just last Tuesday that incidents of firing from Pakistan territory had tapered off somewhat in recent weeks.

Speaking to reporters Monday, Pentagon press secretary George Little stressed the need for a strong military relationship with Pakistan.

”The Pakistani government knows our position on that, and that is we do regret the loss of life in this incident, and we are investigating it,” said Little.

The military fallout began almost immediately.

Pakistan has blocked vital supply routes for US-led troops in Afghanistan and demanded that Washington vacate a base used by American drones. Pakistan ordered CIA employees to mothball their drone operation at Pakistan’s Shamsi air base within two weeks, a senior Pakistani official said.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence matters.

On the diplomatic front, the Obama administration said Pakistan may pull out of an international conference on Afghanistan next week as a result of the incident.

The State Department also issued a new warning for US citizens in Pakistan. It said that all US government personnel working in Pakistan were being recalled to Islamabad and warned Americans to be on guard for possible retaliation. US citizens in Pakistan are being told to travel in pairs, avoid crowds and demonstrations and keep a low profile.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL

China paper slams US over deadly Pakistan raid

BEIJING: An influential state-run Chinese newspaper on Tuesday accused the United States of violating international law and fanning the flames of terrorism after Nato strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

The strongly-worded editorial in the People’s Daily — mouthpiece of China’s ruling Communist party — came after Beijing said it was “deeply shocked” by the strikes, which have exacerbated tensions between Islamabad and Washington.

“The United States and Nato have violated international law and international norms,” the paper said in an editorial condemning the attacks.

“This shows…that at crucial moments, the United States will not show the slightest hesitation to violate the sovereignty of another nation to ensure its ‘absolute security’.”

The use of such cross-border tactics will only incite terrorist sentiment, the editorial added.

“The soil nurturing terrorism will become even more fertile, and terrorist activities will become more widespread,” it said.

Pakistan has reacted furiously to what it called an “unprovoked” strike, worsening US-Pakistani relations already in crisis after the killing in May of Osama bin Laden north of Islamabad by US special forces.

Washington has backed a full inquiry into Saturday’s incident and sent its condolences, while Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Sunday voiced regret over the “tragic, unintended” killings, but did not issue a full apology.

China is one of Pakistan’s closest allies and the main arms supplier to Islamabad, which sees Beijing as an important counter-balance to its traditional rival India.

The two countries conducted joint military exercises over the weekend, while Beijing has built two nuclear power plants in Pakistan and is contracted to construct two more reactors.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi spoke to his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar on Monday and expressed shock over the attacks, a government statement said.

“All nations of the world and international organisations should fully respect Pakistan’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Yang said, according to the statement.

Read more »

Posted in: NATIONAL