November 26, 2011

Last Updated 12:49 p.m. ET
PESHAWAR, Pakistan - A NATO spokesperson told CBS News that it is "highly likely" that close air support provided by coalition forces in Kunar province this morning killed Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the country's northwest and killing 26 soldiers. The government retaliated by closing the border crossings used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

In a statement, Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), told CBS News, "There was a joint Afghan-coalition operation in the very early hours of this morning in the eastern province of Kunar, close to the border with Pakistan. Air support was called in, and it is highly likely that this close air support killed Pakistani soldiers."

Admitting that the fatal incident has "far-reaching implications beyond the military aspect," Jacobson said an Investigation was underway into why close support was called in: "We need to have the technical proof of what was said at what time by whom to whom. Speed is not important, but we need to get the Pakistani side involved to find out what their involvement was," he said.

Pakistan blasts "unprovoked" NATO attacks
Pakistan: 26 dead in NATO helicopter attack

The incident Friday night was a major blow to already strained relations between Islamabad and U.S.-led forces fighting in Afghanistan. It will add to perceptions in Pakistan that the American presence in the region is malevolent, and to resentment toward the weak government in Islamabad for its cooperation with Washington.

It comes a little over a year after a similar but less deadly strike, in which U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border, whom the pilots mistook for insurgents. Pakistan responded by closing the Torkham border crossing to NATO supplies for 10 days until the U.S. apologized.

On Saturday, Pakistan went further, closing both of the country's two border crossings into landlocked Afghanistan. NATO trucks about 30 percent of the non-lethal supplies used by its Afghan-based forces through Pakistan. A short stoppage will have no effect on the war effort, but it is a reminder of the leverage Pakistan has over the United States from the supply routes running through its territory.

NATO said it was an investigating an "incident" along the border.

"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured," said Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in a statement.

Much of the violence in Afghanistan is carried out by insurgents that are based just across the border in Pakistan. Coalition forces are not allowed to cross the frontier to attack the militants. The militants however sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line, reportedly from locations close to Pakistani army posts.

American officials have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of supporting—or turning a blind eye—to militants using its territory for cross-border attacks. The border issue is the major source of tension between Islamabad and Washington, which wants to stabilize Afghanistan and withdraw its combat troops there by the end of 2014.

In a statement sent to reporters, the Pakistan military blamed NATO for Friday's attack in the Mohmand tribal area, saying the helicopters "carried out unprovoked and indiscriminate firing" but did not give figures for the dead and injured.
http://m.cbsnews.com/fullstory.rbml?catid=57331529&feed_id=0&videofeed=36

And this is what you get when the UN runs military actions! Pshaw!

So what country fired the weapons? Is doesn't say AMERICAN per say!

French, English, CHINESE?!?!?

Casualties of war. Pakistan shouldn't be harboring and supporting the terrorists.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Gilani condemned what he called an attack on the nation's sovereignty. In the first ultimatum of its kind, his government gave the United States 15 days to vacate Shamsi air base, the unofficial hub for U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan.

The country also sealed off crucial overland supply routes, which in recent months accounted for 30 percent of all cargo bound for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.