Okay, I don't trust this latest information about 3 Pakistani soldiers being killed at a security checkpoint by NATO Apache attack helicopters one bit - for one thing, the report is coming from a "Reuters" source and secondly, this comes out JUST as we are seeing the Pakistani outrage over previous helicopter incursions into Pakistan over the weekend.
Here's some of the info from the report at DAWN:
It's hard to say just how upset the Pakistanis are about the Apache strikes inside of Pakistan - the Pakistani government, in the past, has publicly decried issues with NATO and U.S. military actions but in private has supported them, but this time I think they are drawing the line. Let's face it, over the past month the number of UAV strikes inside of Pakistan has gone through the roof and the Pakistanis haven't said a peep but word of the first helicopter strike inside the border drew first criticisms. And it seems to be building.
It's my guess that there will be some high level smoothing of ruffled feathers and some assurances from NATO that it won't happen again. And then it will happen again further down the line. Let's hope so.
Here's some of the info from the report at DAWN:
Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Nato helicopter attack in Kurram Agency, a border region with Afghanistan, security and military officials said, apparently the fourth such strike in recent days.
The attack by two Nato helicopters took place early in the morning in Teri Mangal village in Kurram Agency, an ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border.
“The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes. Three of our soldiers manning a border post were killed and three wounded,” a senior security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
He did not say whether Pakistan responded to the strike.
Pakistan on Monday expressed outrage at violation of its airspace by Nato helicopters in Afghanistan over the weekend, saying it would consider “response options” to any future incursions.
It's hard to say just how upset the Pakistanis are about the Apache strikes inside of Pakistan - the Pakistani government, in the past, has publicly decried issues with NATO and U.S. military actions but in private has supported them, but this time I think they are drawing the line. Let's face it, over the past month the number of UAV strikes inside of Pakistan has gone through the roof and the Pakistanis haven't said a peep but word of the first helicopter strike inside the border drew first criticisms. And it seems to be building.
It's my guess that there will be some high level smoothing of ruffled feathers and some assurances from NATO that it won't happen again. And then it will happen again further down the line. Let's hope so.
Nato helicopters kill three Pakistani soldiers in Kurram
PARACHINAR: Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in a Nato helicopter attack in Kurram Agency, a border region with Afghanistan, security and military officials said, apparently the fourth such strike in recent days.
The attack by two Nato helicopters took place early in the morning in Teri Mangal village in Kurram Agency, an ethnic Pashtun tribal region on the Afghan border.
“The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes. Three of our soldiers manning a border post were killed and three wounded,” a senior security official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
He did not say whether Pakistan responded to the strike.
Pakistan on Monday expressed outrage at violation of its airspace by Nato helicopters in Afghanistan over the weekend, saying it would consider “response options” to any future incursions.
Two Nato Apache helicopters killed 30 insurgents on Pakistani soil after a rare manned pursuit across the border from eastern Afghanistan late on Friday, after militants attacked a remote Afghan security outpost in Khost province, Nato forces said.
On Saturday, two Kiowa helicopters returned to the area and killed another four, Nato-led International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) said in a statement in Kabul on Sunday.
Monday saw another possible border violation, with six militants killed in Kurram, a Reuters reporter in the area said. But an ISAF spokesman said it was “near the border,” rather than in Pakistan.
ISAF said in a statement issued late on Sunday that helicopters crossing into Pakistan were following its rules of engagement.
The rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan is seen by Washington as a critical battleground in its fight against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Incursions into Pakistan are extremely rare and the United States prefers to use unmanned aerial drones for its attacks on militant positions in Pakistan's borderlands, known to be a haven for militant groups.
The United States has stepped up missile strikes by pilotless drone aircraft in the border areas in recent weeks.
So far 21 strikes have been carried out by the US drones in September, the record number in a month.
Western security sources said on Wednesday a militant plot to stage coordinated attacks in Europe has been disrupted in its early stages by drone strikes in Pakistan. —Reuters
1 comment:
There's going to be a lot of American flag burning in Islamabad this weekend.
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