NATO helicopters committed 'omission' in raid: ISPR
24 January, 2012
RAWALPINDI: In its detailed reaction to a US inquiry report of the November 26 NATO strikes, Pakistan Army on Monday said that the US/NATO and ISAF forces had made a major omission in their border incursion, which had caused deaths of 24 Pakistani soldiers.
According to the ISPR press statement, the US helicopters carried out unprovoked engagement of Pakistani Posts located inside Pakistan violating their mandate which is limited to Afghanistan alone. "The fundamental cause of the incident of 26th November 2011 was the failure of US/ISAF to share its near-border operation with Pakistan at any level," it added.
The report added that Pakistan does not agree with several portions and findings of the investigation report as these were factually not correct. The analysis of the report has been carried out by the Pakistan Military with a view to reiterate facts and correct perspectives.
The press statement reads, "The fundamental cause of the incident of 26th November 2011 was the failure of US / ISAF to share its near-border operation with Pakistan at any level." The US report released last moth found both American and Pakistani forces were to blame for the border incident, inflaming already strained ties.
According to the report, this obviously was a major omission, as were several others, like the complicated chain of command, complex command and control structure and unimaginative / intricate Rules of Engagement as well as lack of unified military command in Afghanistan.
In addition to the foregoing, US / ISAF violated all mutually agreed procedures with Pakistan for near-border operations put in place to avert such uncalled for actions. The US Investigation Report is structured around the argument of 'self defence' and 'proportional use of force', an argument which is contrary to facts.
Continued engagement by US/ISAF despite being informed about the incident at multiple levels by Pakistan Military within minutes of initiation of US/ISAF fire, belies the 'self defence' and 'proportional use of force' contention.
Affixing partial responsibility of the incident on Pakistan is therefore, unjustified and unacceptable.
Pakistan responded to the attack by shutting down ground routes to supply US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan and forced the United States to vacate an air base used to launch drone flights.
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