Top Pakistani military and diplomatic officials said Thursday that an American airstrike that killed 24 of their country’s soldiers was a deliberate attack, a charge that escalates a diplomatic feud between the nations. A Pakistani military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said American helicopters knew two outposts fired upon were manned by Pakistani troops, and that there were no insurgents in the area.
“There is a sense of outrage … on the street, amongst the leadership, as well as military, and among the rank and file of the Pakistan military,” said the official, in a Washington meeting with reporters. “They all share those sentiments because the sheer magnitude of this thing is unbelievable.”
The official added that there was “no firefight” between the U.S. forces and Pakistani troops when the posts were attacked shortly after midnight and that NATO forces apologized directly after the incident. The official said the attack lasted two hours. “They continued to attack the outposts,” he said, adding that NATO knew of the outpost locations well before the attack.
U.S. officials vehemently deny the Pakistani accusations, saying that the NATO attack on the outposts was in response to “repeated” and direct weapons fire on U.S. and Afghan forces operating in the area. An official investigative report is expected to be released next week by U.S. Central Command, but both the United States and NATO have already said the killings were an unfortunate act of friendly fire.
“There was repeated fire coming from the direction of the posts,” said a U.S. official. “When the Pakistan military was asked if they had troops in the area, they said they did not.”
George Little, spokesman for the Pentagon, said, “the United States did not deliberately or intentionally attack these Pakistani outposts.”
In October, The Washington Examiner reported from Afghanistan that Pakistani forces were frequently firing across the border at American and NATO troops. In May, coalition officials said Pakistan fired upon two American Apache helicopters, which returned fire, injuring two Pakistani soldiers.
Afghan officials confirmed that Pakistan has been firing on their soldiers and those of the United States and NATO, including the night of the fatal airstrike.
“Pakistani troops were firing on Afghan and U.S. troops. It was a matter of self-defense,” an Afghan official said.
The episode has frayed U.S.-Pakistani relations at a critical time, when the U.S. is attempting to stabilize the region ahead of a troop withdrawal scheduled to begin in 2014.
Two key supply routes for NATO forces from Pakistan into Afghanistan remained closed at the order of the Pakistani government. And Pakistan has told the U.S. to evacuate its personnel from Shamsi Air Base, used for drone strikes on militants.
On Thursday Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, said cooperation with the United States is “on hold” after Congress approved a bill to freeze $700 million in military aid.
“The Pakistan military is also losing tens of millions of dollars since closing our supply routes,” a U.S. official said. “If they think they’re choking us, their military is choked as well.”
Sara A. Carter is The Washington Examiner‘s national security correspondent. She can be reached at [email protected].
