Monday, November 28, 2011

Pakistani Army do not accept NATO’s apology

Pakistani Army on Monday said that it does not accept NATO apology for a cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Expressing its disgust over the whole incident, Pakistani Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas warned that NATO’s action could lead to serious consequences.

According to Geo News, Abbas said NATO’s apology is not enough.

Fury spread in Pakistan on Sunday over the attack that could undermine the US effort to wind up the war in Afghanistan.

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 US 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.

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