http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\02\12\story_12-2-2007_pg1_5
US launching artillery into Pakistan in self-defence, says commander
- Pakistan to seek clarification over US military official’s statement
BAGRAM AIR BASE: Asserting a right to self-defence, American forces in eastern Afghanistan launched artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters who attack remote US outposts, the commander of US forces in the region said on Sunday.
The skirmishes are politically sensitive because Pakistan’s government has denied that it allows US forces to strike inside its territory. The use of Waziristan area as a haven for Taliban and Qaeda fighters has become a greater irritant between Washington and Islamabad since Pakistan put in place a peace agreement there in September .
US Army Col John W Nicholson, commander of the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, said in an Associated Press interview that rather than halt such incursions, the peace deal has led to a substantial increase. Pakistani border forces stopped offensive actions against the militants once the peace deal took effect, he said. “That did relax some of the pressure on the enemy,” Nicholson said.
The Pakistani army’s top spokesman said coalition forces operating in Afghanistan are not allowed to fire into Pakistani territory but acknowledged that artillery fire from the coalition had landed inside Pakistan in recent days. Maj Gen Shaukat Sultan also said Pakistan would seek clarification over the US military statement. “There is a clear understanding between us and the coalition authority about respecting the sanctity of international border,” Sultan said. “And Pakistan would not allow any coalition forces to violate the international border.” “In case of any target inside Pakistani territory, the intelligence would be passed on to us and we would take action,” he added.
Nicholson described the fighting along the border, particularly in Paktika and Khost, as intense. In some cases, he said, the Taliban have crossed the border at night, using wire cutters to breach the perimeter of small US outposts, “trying to get hand grenades into our bunkers”.
“I mean we’re talking World War I type of stuff,” Nicholson said. “These are some very sharp, intense fights” initiated by an enemy he described as resilient and undeterred by superior US firepower. “They’ll keep coming back,” he said. When Taliban forces on the Pakistan side of the border fire on US outposts on the Afghan side, the Americans are equipped to quickly pinpoint the launch location using radar and then strike back with artillery, he said.
He said his forces are not required to get approval from Pakistan before responding to an attack. But he emphasized that efforts are made to warn Pakistani government forces along the border to clear the intended target area before US artillery is launched. ap