Pakistan Authorized U.S. Airstrike That Led To Deadly Friendly-Fire Bombing: Report

American airstrikes that left 24 Pakistani troops dead Monday were permitted by Pakistan officials who didn’t know their own forces were in the area, according to a new report.

The friendly-fire incident — the worst since the start of the 10-year war in Afghanistan — began as a mission to hunt Taliban militants when American troops were fired upon near the Afghan-Pakistan border, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Thinking they were under attack by an encampment of insurgents, the troops contacted a joint border control center to check if Pakistani forces were in the area before firing back, the officials said.

Pakistani representatives — who were not told by U.S. or Afghan officials that they were conducting the commando operation — said they had no military forces in the area and gave the go-ahead for the troops to conduct airstrikes, the officials said.

As the smoke cleared from the attack, the commandos learned that the assailants were Pakistani military personnel that had set up a temporary campsite in the notorious Mohmand tribal region just off the Afghan eastern border, officials said.

“There were lots of mistakes made,” an official told the paper. “There was not good situational awareness to who was where and who was doing what.”

Pakistani officials did not immediately comment on the report, but said earlier that it was impossible for the U.S. to not know they were attacking a friendly encampment.

But U.S. officials rebuked the claim, saying the the encampment looked more like makeshift campsites than established military bases.

“There was absolutely no malicious, deliberate attack on the Pakistani military posts,” a U.S. defense official said.

“If you hear American helicopters why would you lob mortars and machine gun fire at them? The Pakistanis can say we thought it was insurgents, exept for the fact that the Taliban doesn’t have helicopters.”

White House officials have decided against offering a formal appology until after a complete investigation is conducted.

A formal report by U.S. military investigators is expected to be done by Dec. 23.

“Our view on this will not be complete until we’ve completed the investigation,” a senior official told the Journal.

Meanwhile, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, the country’s army chief has granted his soldiers “full liberty” to retaliate with “full force, regardless of the cost and consequences” to any cross-border attacks from NATO forces, the Hindustan Times reports.

“No loss will be considered greater than upholding the national institution’s honour,” Kayani was reported to have said.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/pakistan-authorized-u-s-drone-attacks-led-deadly-friendly-fire-bombing-report-article-1.985741#ixzz1fUbUcbd5