WASHINGTON, Dec 16: The Nato air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers last month was intentional, unprovoked and inexplicable, Pakistan embassy officials have told a group of US journalists here.
They said Nato military officials in the region had given “inaccurate and incomplete” information to their Pakistani counterparts as the attack got under way.
The US Central Command is investigating the attack and the findings will be announced on Dec 23.
Despite the bitterness triggered by the attack, the two Pakistani officials briefing the reporters referred to US and Nato forces as “our allies” and “our friends”.
They ruled out the possibility that Nato troops could have mistaken the Pakistani posts for a Taliban hideout. With the help of pictures and maps, they showed the participants that the post that had been attacked was on a hilltop and visible from all directions. They said Nato personnel in the area had multiple channels to communicate and coordinate with their Pakistani counterparts but had not used them to verify the identity of the post.
The officials said the attack, which began shortly after midnight, had continued for more than two hours. At 1.05am, Nato officials told their Pakistani counterparts that the attack would stop but it continued until well after 2am.
“By 1am, Nato’s entire chain of command knew something had gone wrong. If there was any doubt before, there was none after. But the attack continued well after senior Nato officials had been told that they were killing Pakistani forces,” an official said.
Nato helicopters also attacked the troops Pakistan tried to send to help those deployed at the post, he said.
The officials acknowledged that Nato had informed some Pakistani military officials stationed at a joint border control centre in Afghanistan but said the information was partial and incorrect.
Later, Nato officials apologised for the errors, they said.
The embassy officials also acknowledged that Pakistani troops had fired machine guns and artillery in the direction of US helicopters, but only after coming under attack from them.
“The Pakistani soldiers were justified in returning fire,” one official said. “Can you take away the right of self-defence?” The officials insisted that the Nato raid had provoked “a sense of outrage” in the country, particularly in the military. “Public sentiment is against any cooperation” with the US, a senior Pakistani diplomat said, while explaining why Nato supply lines had been blocked. “They want a clear-cut apology.”
Video posted on YouTube by the military shows the outposts still mouldering the morning after the attack.
A slide presentation given on the occasion included photographs of flag-draped coffins of the dead, including a major and a captain.
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