NATO attacks: Pakistan refuses to agree with US probe

[Bilal_Mushi]

NATO attacks: Pakistan refuses to agree with US probe

Pakistan Army said it did not agree with the findings of US probe into cross-border NATO air strike.


The Pakistan Army on Thursday said it did not agree with the findings of a US inquiry into a cross-border NATO air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last month.
"The Pakistan Army does not agree with the findings of the US/NATO inquiry as is being reported in the media," chief military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas said in brief statement.

"The inquiry report is short on facts. A detailed response will be given as and when the formal report is received," he said

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State Deptt resists apology demand on NATO strike

The US refused to meet key Pakistani demand of an apology for cross border NATO strike.

Despite admitting its mistake and expressing "regret" repreatedly, the US today refused to meet the key Pakistani demand of an apology for the cross border NATO strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. "I don t know -- an apology... you can figure that out for your own. I can only say what we are trying to express with this investigation," Toner said when reporters repeatedly asked why the US was not using the term apology, which has been a major demand of Pakistan.

The US, Toner said, conducted this investigation in a very transparent manner. "We found culpability on both sides of miscommunications, errors... a lack of trust that led to this incident. We have expressed our deepest regret, but we ve also accepted responsibility for the mistakes that were ours," Toner said.

The State Department spokesman said that General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a "professional and cordial" conversation with General Ashfaq Kayani, the head of the Pakistani military, about the report on December 21. Gen Dempsey has also offered to send a team to Pakistan for briefing on the findings of the probe.

 

[Bilal_Mushi]

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISPR), dismissing the findings of the probe report jointly conducted by US and NATO into NATO’s attack on Pakistani outposts in Salala, consequent to which, at least 24 troops martyred, has said that Pakistan army does not agree to the findings of the inquiry.

“The probe report is ‘not based on facts’,” says ISPR, reports SAMAA on late Thursday.

ISPR statement said that the complete response to the inquiry report would be issued after thorough review.

The statement said that the report is not factual, adding that a number of facts were neglected during inquiry.

Earlier, investigation into an air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers concluded that both alliance and Pakistani forces made mistakes in the incident, NATO said Thursday.

NATO's military chain of command voiced its "sincerest, heartfelt condolences to the families" of the victims, the alliance said in a statement following the November 25-26 incident which has severely strained US-Pakistani relations.

"The investigation has ascertained that a series of mistakes were made on both sides in failing to properly coordinate their locations and actions, both before the operation and during the resulting engagement," NATO said.

The incident heightened tensions on an already fragile relationship, with Islamabad cutting off critical NATO supply routes to Afghanistan and Pakistani officials alleging deliberate US targeting of their troops at the border posts.

Pakistan has sought a full apology from President Barack Obama for the strikes. NATO and US officials have voiced regret over the incident.

Revelations from the military probe placing blame on both US and Pakistani forces could further enrage Islamabad, where officials have maintained their troops did nothing wrong, and did not fire first.

NATO said Afghan and foreign forces "legitimately responded in self-defence" after being initially fired upon by "unidentified forces" that were not believed to be Pakistani military at the time.

"The combined force did not knowingly fire at the Pakistani forces," it said in a statement issued by its military headquarters in Mons, Belgium.

"The investigation has substantiated that close air support was employed in self-defence in response to intense, heavy machine gun and mortar fire initiated by what turned out to be Pakistan forces near the border in the vicinity of Salala."

NATO said a thorough review of the operational plan and communications during the incident "substantiate the conclusion that the Pakistani forces were not knowingly targeted and the action of our forces was legitimate within the laws of armed conflict and within their rules of engagement."

The NATO mission has taken "immediate steps" to avoid similar incidents in the future and is continuously working to improve liaison with Pakistani forces.

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan is reviewing the "manning, training, and certification" of Border Coordination Centres that enable NATO and Pakistani troops to communicate.

In Washington last week, a Pakistan embassy official said NATO forces could not have mistaken the two border posts on the Afghan border for bases of Islamic extremists such as the Taliban as they stood on high ground and had structures.

Obama has telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari to offer his condolences over the strike, but Washington has stopped short of apologising pending the outcome of the military probe. AGENCIES/SAMAA

 

[Bangash]

یہ پاکستان کو بے وقوف بنا رہے ہیں کتے کمینے ان کے ساتھ سفارتی تعلقات بھی ختم کرنے چاہئے اور ایران کی مکمل حمایت کرنی چاہئے بلکہ ان سارے ممالک کی جو ان کے خلاف ہیں
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