U.S. Air Force Brigadier General Stephen Clark, who led the investigation into the circumstances of a NATO strike on Pakistani military positions, told reporters that the U.S. forces acted in self-defense, without knowing that Pakistan had military outposts in the area.
“We are tracking no Pak[istani] mil[itary] in the area,” Clark said the troops on the ground were told by their regional command center, according to the American Forces Press Service. Clark added that U.S. forces came under “direct and heavy machine gun fire.” U.S. forces, told that Pakistani military was not in the area, dropped flares to make clear that they were coalition forces, and then called for an air strike on the aggressors.
Pakistani liaison officers told the U.S. that the air strike was hitting allies, Clark said, but didn’t say where the engagement was taking place. “There is confusion caused by this because there is a lack of precision on where this is occurring,” he told reporters. “When asked, the general answer back [from the Pakistani officers] is, ‘Well, you know where it is because you are shooting at them,’ rather than giving a position.”
Clark said that U.S. forces accidentally engaged the Pakistani military three times over a two-hour period. “[At about 1 am] there was confirmation and clarification across the net that in fact there were Pakistani military in the area and that there were border posts,” the general told reporters. “That word was then relayed down to the ground tactical leader, who immediately ceased engagement, and no rounds were fired after that time.”
