re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
this is sick actually. when army does something out of its scope, people start saying why the hell they did that, and when they wait for the civil govt to take a decision and take the lead, then people say why army is not stepping in. people, please make up you mind for once
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
**Nato says aircraft did cross border into Pakistan **
Nato is launching more raids into Pakistan in pursuit of militants
Nato is launching more raids into Pakistan in pursuit of militants Nato in Afghanistan says its aircraft crossed into Pakistan and fired at suspected militants, in an attack Pakistan says killed three soldiers.
Nato said its aircraft killed “several armed individuals” as the crew believed they were being fired on.
Pakistan says the helicopter attacked a military checkpoint, and that it “strongly disapproves” of violation of its sovereignty.
It has blocked supply routes for US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
It is not clear whether the closure is in retaliation for the attack.
However, if it becomes permanent, the blockade of one of two important routes could lead to a major escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the United States.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said after the border attack on Thursday: “We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies.”
A Nato spokesman said US Gen David Petraeus, commander of the foreign forces in Afghanistan, had contacted Pakistani government officials to explain what had happened during the attack, why it happened and to pass on his condolences.
The spokesman, Brig Gen Josef Blotz, said the border closure was having “no impact” on the supply of goods and transport logistics.
‘Self-defence’
In a statement, Nato said that after striking what was believed to be an insurgent group “the aircraft received what the crews assessed as effective small-arms fire from individuals just across the border in Pakistan”.
“Operating in self-defence, the… aircraft entered into Pakistani airspace killing several armed individuals,” it said.
A Pakistani military spokesman told the Agence France-Presse news agency that troops fired at the helicopter “to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into our territory”. Three soldiers were killed and three were injured.
President Ali Asif Zardari said “any violation of internationally agreed principles is counter-productive and unacceptable”.
A queue of about 100 Nato vehicles was waiting to cross the border into Afghanistan earlier on Thursday.
However, local officials said the closure was carried out as a security measure to ensure Nato vehicles were not attacked by the Taliban in retaliation for the helicopter attack.
The route through the Khyber area supplies Kabul and is one of two key supply lines linking Pakistan to Afghanistan.
Another route - going though Quetta and Chaman to southern Afghanistan - remains open.
New pattern
Meanwhile at least five suspected militants have been killed in a suspected drone strike some 30km (18 miles) west of Miramshah, officials say.
There has been a major escalation in such strikes this year - with 64 in North Waziristan and six in South Waziristan.
Previously, drones have been carrying out strikes against al-Qaeda and Taliban targets in the area, but it seems that coalition forces have now decided to start using the “hot-pursuit” option as well, says the BBC’s M Ilyas Khan in Islamabad.
Thursday’s strikes come after months of pressure from the Western coalition urging Pakistan to launch a clean-up operation against militant groups in its North Waziristan tribal area.
Pakistan has argued that this would be difficult because troops are already spread too thinly to open a new front against the militants, especially when many soldiers have been helping out with recent flood relief operations.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Pakistan has blocked the NATO supply line in response to todays attack.
is it!?!? good if true, lets see how long they can hold. they should ask NATO to officially apologize pay a compensation to release the supply
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Pakistan Halts NATO Supplies After Attack
**Pakistan blocks vital supply route for forces in Afghanistan, after cross-border NATO air strike **
http://i54.tinypic.com/14xmrl4.jpg
Afghanistan-bound NATO trucks are parked at a roadside as authorities blocked NATO supply line to Afghanistan after NATO allegedly killed three border guards at Pakistani border, at tribal check post of Takhta Beg in Khyber area of Pakistan near Pak-Afghan border, 30 Sep 2010
Pakistan has blocked a vital supply route for NATO forces in Afghanistan, after a cross-border NATO air strike that Pakistan says killed three of its soldiers.
Supply trucks and fuel tankers for international troops were lined up at the Torkham border post in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal region Thursday, hours after the NATO raid - the fourth reported by Pakistani officials in recent days. The bulk of supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan move through Pakistan.
Pakistani officials say the convoys were stopped for security reasons, but did not give details.
Earlier Thursday, Pakistan’s military said NATO helicopters attacked a paramilitary checkpoint in the Kurram tribal region near the Afghan border. A military spokesman says Pakistani troops fired warning shots at the helicopters, which responded by firing missiles that killed three soldiers and wounded three others.
Pakistani officials reported a second NATO air strike nearby, but there were no injuries.
NATO says its helicopters briefly entered Pakistani airspace Thursday, while targeting militants trying to attack a coalition base in Afghanistan’s Paktia province.
NATO says after the initial strike, coalition aircraft came under fire from across the border in Pakistan. Coalition helicopters then entered Pakistani airspace again in self-defense, and killed several armed individuals.
NATO says Pakistani officials informed the coalition that Pakistani military personnel had been struck by coalition aircraft, and that both sides were investigating to verify the exact location of both incidents. NATO offered condolences to the Pakistani military.
It was unclear if Pakistan blocked the NATO supply route in retaliation for the attack. Pentagon spokesman Colonel David Lapan said Thursday that U.S. defense officials were discussing the matter with the Pakistani government. He said the military has various routes to resupply troops in Afghanistan and that there is no immediate impact.
The incidents occurred as U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta met with Pakistani officials in Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told the CIA chief he was “profoundly concerned” about increasing U.S. drone strikes and violations of Pakistan’s airspace by NATO forces which Pakistan says violates its sovereignty.
Earlier this week, Pakistan strongly protested two other cross-border NATO strikes on Pakistani territory that killed several dozen militants.
The tribal area of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan is largely controlled by militants who regularly launch attacks against NATO troops in Afghanistan.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
No Pakistan has only blocked the supply from one route...hasn't completely banned the supply from Pakistan...besides it's only a temporary measure for domestic consumption...to much invested by Kiani and his cohorts/masters in the civilians government in the retirement packages furnished by CIA...
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
30 trucks destroyed by you know who :D, I am sure the message will get to its destination.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
just in
Pakistan cuts all ties with NATO till action against nato pilots and personel involved.Earlier an MNA had told that SAM's are deployed in tribal areas.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
off topic but that picture is pretty amazing!
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
30 trucks destroyed by you know who :D, I am sure the message will get to its destination.
Another stupid move by idiots.** The 30 trucks destroyed is a big economic loss to the transport company and the driver who drive them.** The NATO just pays transportation fees. Most of the trucks were tankers carrying petrol.
The PA should stop playing dog and pony show..whatever the NATO is doing (drone & intrusion) is approved by the PA. If PA really cares for pakistan's ghairiat then they should severe ties with NATO..but they wont because they get $$ from uncle sam!!:(
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Another stupid move by idiots.** The 30 trucks destroyed is a big economic loss to the transport company and the driver who drive them.** The NATO just pays transportation fees. Most of the trucks were tankers carrying petrol.
Agreed but then who will tell those shmucks?
The PA should stop playing dog and pony show..whatever the NATO is doing (drone & intrusion) is approved by the PA. If PA really cares for pakistan's ghairiat then they should severe ties with NATO..but they wont because they get $$ from uncle sam!!:(
Disagree, its Pakistani govt that needs to decide whether drone attacks are acceptable or not, based on that decision can army retaliate.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
...whatever the NATO is doing (drone & intrusion) is approved by the PA. If PA really cares for pakistan's ghairiat then they should severe ties with NATO..but they wont because they get $$ from uncle sam!!:(
while I believe that Army is somewhat involved in the agreement, but I blame our weak and shoe-liking govt to actually provide cover to NATO and US. If govt had passed clear orders to PA to bring down any dron/heli intruding our air space, and retaliate any ground attack (even be it cross border mortar fires) Army would have left with no option but do that, and end all ties with NATO, no matter how much $$ they get
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Another stupid move by idiots.** The 30 trucks destroyed is a big economic loss to the transport company and the driver who drive them.** The NATO just pays transportation fees. Most of the trucks were tankers carrying petrol. !!:(
You need to do your home work, perhaps who is paying for what and why and how much.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
http://www.emirates247.com/polopoly_fs/1.297784.1285917309!/image/1291343282.gif
Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand guard as trucks and tankers carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan burn following an attack by gunmen in Shikarpur district of the southern Sindh province early on October 1, 2010. (AFP)
Militants set fire to NATO tankers in Pakistan
Attack came after blocking of main NATO supply route
Suspected militants in Pakistan set fire to more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan on Friday, officials said, a day after three soldiers were killed in a cross-border NATO air strike.
Angered by repeated incursions by NATO helicopters over the past week, Pakistan has blocked a supply route for coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is a crucial ally for the United States in its efforts to stabilise Afghanistan, but analysts say border incursions and disruptions in NATO supplies underline growing tensions in the relationship.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said the border incursions could lead to a “total snapping of relations.”
Senior local officials blamed “extremists” for the attack on the tankers in the southern town of Shikarpur.
About 12 people, their faces covered, opened fire with small arms in the air to scare away the drivers and then set fire to 27 tankers.
“Some of them have been completely destroyed and others partially. But there is no loss of human life,” Shikarpur police chief Abdul Hameed Khoso told Reuters.
The tankers were parked at a filling station on their way to Afghanistan from Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi.
The previous day, three Pakistani soldiers were killed and three wounded in two cross-border strikes by NATO forces chasing militants in Pakistan’s northwestern Kurram region.
It was the third cross-border incident in a week, the Pakistan military said. NATO said the helicopters briefly crossed into Pakistan airspace after coming under fire from people there.
Hours later, Pakistani authorities halted tankers carrying supplies for the NATO forces passing through the Khyber tribal region on the Afghan border.
About half of all cargo for NATO forces in Afghanistan travels through Pakistan, most of it via two main border crossings: Chaman north of Quetta in Baluchistan and Torkham at the Khyber Pass.
Another third flows into Afghanistan through the northern distribution network across Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Sensitive gear like ammunition, weapons and critical equipment is flown in.
Officials say supplies for NATO forces through Chaman continue uninterrupted.
Also on Friday, a United Nations relief helicopter with 12 people on board went down in a lake in a flood-affected area in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, a U.N. official said.
Initial reports said seven people had been injured and officials said the accident was likely mechanical.
Pakistan has again come under the international spotlight after Western intelligence sources said a militant plot to stage coordinated attacks in Europe had been disrupted by a recent upsurge in missile strikes by U.S. drones in Pakistan.
Pakistani security officials said they had no evidence of any specific terror plot being hatched in the country’s tribal areas, described as global hub of militants by the United States. Most of the recent drones strikes have taken place in the northwestern North Waziristan region.
“It’s no secret that there are terrorists from all nationalities in North Waziristan. They are Arabs, Uzbeks, Pakistani, Afghan, Chechans, German, Brits, Americans, everyone. And they are threat to us, to their own countries and to the entire world,” a senior security official said.
“But to say that we have any specific information that they were plotting attacks against this country or that country, then sir, we don’t have any concrete information or intelligence about that.”
He said drones strikes had killed members of various militant groups.
The United States has stepped up missile strikes by its pilotless drone aircraft on militant targets inside Pakistan, with September seeing at least 21 attacks that have killed at least 100 militants. It was the most intense month for drone attacks to date.
Re: Nato raid kills 3 Pakistani troops..
That merely shows you can't read. Do a search. Unless you are too stupid to know what that is.
Do a search on WHAT? You calling Taliban MF's?
If you think I don't know what 'search' is then it actually shows what YOU are.
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
drone attacks continue
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
i fail to understand why drone attacks are ok for the government but nato attacks are not welcome? does drone attack not interfere with pakistan's sovereignty?
re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/10/02/cia-escalates-campaign-pakistan/
**CIA Escalates in Pakistan
Pentagon Diverts Drones From Afghanistan to Bolster U.S. Campaign Next Door**
By ADAM ENTOUS, JULIAN E. BARNES And SIOBHAN GORMAN
Reuters
Onlookers in Pakistan’s Sindh province after suspected militants set fire to tankers Friday carrying fuel for NATO troops in Afghanistan.
WASHINGTON—The U.S. military is secretly diverting aerial drones and weaponry from the Afghan battlefront to significantly expand the CIA’s campaign against militants in their Pakistani havens.
The shift in strategic focus reflects the U.S. view that, with Pakistan’s military unable or unwilling to do the job, more U.S. force against terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistan is now needed to turn around the struggling Afghan war effort across the border.
In recent months, the military has loaned Predator and Reaper drones to the Central Intelligence Agency to give the agency more firepower to target and bombard militants on the Afghan border.
The additional drones helped the CIA escalate the number of strikes in Pakistan in September. The agency averaged five strikes a week in September, up from an average of two to three per week. The Pentagon and CIA have ramped up their purchases of drones, but they aren’t being built fast enough to meet the rapid rise in demand.
The escalated campaign in September was aimed, in part, at disrupting a suspected terrorist plot to strike in Western Europe. U.S. officials said Friday their working assumption is that Osama bin Laden and other senior al Qaeda operatives are part of the suspected terror plot—or plots—believed to target the U.K., France or Germany. They said they are still working to understand the contours of the scheme.
U.S. officials say a successful terrorist strike against the West emanating from Pakistan could force the U.S. to take unilateral military action—an outcome all parties are eager to avoid.
Although the U.S. military flies surveillance drones in Pakistan and shares intelligence with the Pakistani government, Pakistan has prohibited U.S. military operations on its soil, arguing they would impinge on the country’s sovereignty. The CIA operations, while well-known, are technically covert, allowing Islamabad to deny to its unsupportive public its involvement with the strikes. The CIA doesn’t acknowledge the program, and the shift of Pentagon resources has been kept under wraps.
Pakistan has quietly cooperated with the CIA drone program which started under President George W. Bush. But the program is intensely unpopular in the country because of concerns about sovereignty and regular reports of civilian casualties. U.S. officials say the CIA’s targeting of militants is precise, and that there have been a limited number of civilian casualties.
U.S. officials said there is now less concern about upsetting the Pakistanis than there was a few months ago, and that the U.S. is being more aggressive in its response to immediate threats from across the border.
“You have to deal with the sanctuaries,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D., Mass.) said after meeting with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, in Washington this week. “I’ve pushed very, very hard with the Pakistanis regarding that.”
Tensions between the U.S. and Pakistan have been exacerbated in recent days by a series of cross-border attacks by North Atlantic Treaty Organization helicopter gunships. Islamabad responded by shutting a key border crossing used to supply Western troops in Afghanistan and threatening to halt NATO container traffic altogether. On Friday, militants in Pakistan attacked tankers carrying fuel toward another border crossing, in another sign of the vulnerability of NATO supply lines crossing Pakistani territory.
Because U.S. military officials say success in Afghanistan hinges, in large part, on shutting down the militant havens in Pakistan, the surge in drone strikes could also have far-reaching implications for the Obama administration, which is under political pressure to show results in the nine-year Afghan war and has set a goal of beginning to withdraw troops in July.
The secret deal to beef up the CIA’s campaign inside Pakistan shows the extent to which military officials see the havens there, used by militants to plan and launch attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, as the primary obstacle to the Afghan war effort.
“When it comes to drones, there’s no mission more important right now than hitting targets in the tribal areas, and that’s where additional equipment’s gone,” a U.S. official said. “It’s not the only answer, but it’s critical to both homeland security and force protection in Afghanistan.”
The idea of funneling military resources through the CIA was broached during last year’s Afghanistan-Pakistan policy review, officials say. The shift in military resources was spearheaded by CIA Director Leon Panetta and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a former CIA director himself. It also has the backing of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, and the new commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus.
Mr. Gates helped smooth over initial dissent among some at the Pentagon who argued that the drones were needed in Afghanistan to attack the Taliban.
Since taking command in Afghanistan in July, Gen. Petraeus has placed greater focus on the tribal areas of Pakistan, according to military and other government officials.
The U.S. military has been focused on trying to persuade the Pakistan army to step up its actions against militants in the tribal areas. That effort led to operations in some areas, but not North Waziristan, which is used by the Haqqani militant network to mount cross-border attacks and is believed by U.S. officials to be the hiding place of senior al Qaeda leaders.
Pakistan says its army has been spread thin, limiting its ability to carry out additional large-scale operations. Its resources have also been diverted to responding to the worst flooding in the country’s history.
The U.S. now sees the need for a stronger American push in Pakistan because of the growing belief that Pakistan isn’t going to commit any more resources to fighting militants within its borders, said a former senior intelligence official. The Pakistani military is tapped out, the former official said. “They’ve gone as far as they can go.”
U.S. officials are also increasingly frustrated by what they see as Islamabad’s double-dealing. Some elements of the country’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence agency continue to support the Haqqanis as a hedge against India’s regional influence, and the government has rebuffed U.S. calls for a crackdown on the group.
Pakistani government officials have repeatedly denied that they provide any support to the Haqqanis and said their military is too overstretched to take them on directly in their North Waziristan base.
Gen. Petraeus has taken a hard line on the Haqqani network, calling them irreconcilable. He has also met with top Pakistani military leaders and presented intelligence tying the Haqqanis operating out of North Waziristan havens to attacks on U.S. and Afghan troops, according to a military official.
The Pentagon has allowed loaned equipment and personnel to the CIA several times since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, according to former intelligence officials.
In addition to drone aircraft, officials said the military was sharing targeting information with the CIA from surveillance over-flights.
Re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Its a cat and mouse game. The drone strikes are okay because we have no other option. If we say no, we are gonna be worse for wear. Just like what is happening now. I seriously think the US is effectively out to make sure the PPP government is always on its knees regardless of what is happening to force internal turmoil.
Khoji when I post me insulting the Taliban you ready to get on your knees and apologize? :)
Re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
http://www.aaj.tv/2010/10/nato-apologizes-for-border-violation/
**NATO apologizes for border violation
**BRUSSELS (1st October 2010)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) apologized to Pakistan for violation of its territory and has ordered investigation of the incident.
In an exclusive interview with AAJ News, Pakistan’s ambassador in Brussels Jalil Abbas said that NATO officials have apologized for the incident.
Earlier, Pakistan criticized a pair of NATO air strikes on its territory that killed several people, saying that it was a violation of its sovereignty.
Few days ago, NATO carried out air strikes in Pakistan’s territory and killed several militants.
Re: NATO forces cross border into Pakistan.
Three drone attacks in one day, mashaAllah this government is far leaving musharraf government behind...