12.03 PM Friday, 29 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 04:56 06:10 12:26 15:53 18:37 19:52
29 March 2024

Rage grips Pakistan over Nato attack

Published
By Reuters

Fury spread in Pakistan Sunday over a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and could undermine the U.S. effort to wind up the war in Afghanistan.

Sunday night in Pakistan, more than 40 hours after the incident, many questions remained.

Nato described the killings as a "tragic unintended incident" and said an investigation was underway. A Western official and an Afghan security official who requested anonymity said Nato troops were responding to fire from across the border.

It's possible both explanations are correct: that a retaliatory attack by Nato troops took a tragic, mistaken turn in harsh terrain where identifying friend and foe can be difficult.

"All of this is extremely murky and needs to be investigated," said a US official in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Our goal today is ... that the investigation gets mounted in a way that is confidence-building on all sides."

Militants often attack from Pakistani soil or flee after combat across a porous border that NATO-led troops, under their United Nations mandate, cannot cross.

What is clear is the incident could undermine U.S. efforts to improve ties with Pakistan so that the regional power helps stabilise Afghanistan before Nato combat troops go home by the end of 2014.

The attack was the latest perceived provocation by the United States, which infuriated Pakistan's powerful military with a unilateral special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.

Thousands gathered outside the American consulate in the city of Karachi to protest against the Nato attack.

A Reuters reporter at the scene said the angry crowd shouted "Down with America." One young man climbed on the wall surrounding the heavily fortified compound and attached a Pakistani flag to barbed wire.

"America is attacking our borders. The government should immediately break ties with it," said Naseema Baluch, a housewife attending the demonstration. "America wants to occupy our country but we will not let it do that."

Pakistan buried the troops killed in the attack Sunday. Television stations showed coffins draped in green and white Pakistani flags in a prayer ceremony at the headquarters of the regional command in Peshawar, attended by army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

The Nato attack highlights the difficulties faced by the United States as it tries to secure the unruly border area that is home to some of the world's most dangerous militant groups who have mastered the harsh mountainous landscape.

Around 40 troops were stationed at the outposts at the time of the attack, military sources said.

US and Nato officials are trying to defuse tensions but the soldiers' deaths are testing a bad marriage of convenience between Washington and Islamabad.

Many Pakistanis believe their army is fighting a war against militants that only serves Western interests.

Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by telephone early Sunday to convey "the deep sense of rage felt across Pakistan" and warned that the incident could undermine efforts to improve relations, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Pakistan shut down Nato supply routes into Afghanistan in retaliation for the incident, the worst of its kind since Islamabad uneasily allied itself with Washington following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

Pakistan is the route for nearly half of Nato supplies shipped overland to its troops in Afghanistan. Land shipments account for about two thirds of the alliance's cargo.