Pakistan: US report on airstrike ‘contrary to facts’

The U.S. military investigation found that U.S. forces
responded “with appropriate force” and were acting in self-defense in the
attack that killed 26 Pakistanis on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. NATO
officials have said that Pakistani troops fired on ISAF forces, something
Pakistan disputed.

Pakistan’s report said that ISAF troops “violated all
mutually agreed procedures with Pakistan for near-border operations put in
place to avert such uncalled for actions.” The report claimed that the troops
carried out an “unprovoked” attack on Pakistani posts located inside Pakistan.

The report claimed that ISAF troops continued engagement after
being told about it by the Pakistani military at multiple levels, and concluded
that “affixing partial responsibility of the incident on Pakistan is therefore,
unjustified and unacceptable.”

Pakistan’s report was designed as a rebuttal to the U.S.
report, although Pakistani officials declined to participate in the U.S.
investigation.

The November incident further harmed the already tenuous Pakistani-U.S.
relations, and Pakistan cut off NATO supply routs from Pakistan into Afghanistan
in response.