Yakkaghund: Nato helicopters and fighter jets yesterday attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging US-Pakistan relations, already deeply frayed, further into crisis.
Pakistan retaliated by shutting down vital Nato supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in almost half of the alliance's non-lethal material.
The attack is the worst single incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington in the days immediately following the September 11, 2001 attacks on US targets.
Relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on militancy, have been strained following the killing of Al Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden by US special forces in a raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty.
The Pakistani government and military brimmed with fury.
"This is an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty," said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. "We will not let any harm come to Pakistan's sovereignty and solidarity."
The Foreign Office said it would take up the matter "in the strongest terms" with Nato and the United States.
The powerful Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, said in a statement issued by the Pakistani military that "all necessary steps be under taken for an effective response to this irresponsible act.
"A strong protest has been launched with Nato/ISAF in which it has been demanded that strong and urgent action be taken against those responsible for this aggression."
The commander of Nato-led forces in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, said he had offered his condolences to the family of any Pakistani soldiers who "may have been killed or injured" during an "incident" on the border. A spokesman for the force declined further comment on the nature of the "incident" and said an investigation was proceeding. It was not yet clear, he said, whether there had been deaths or injuries. The US embassy in Islamabad also offered condolences. "I regret the loss of life of any Pakistani servicemen, and pledge that the United States will work closely with Pakistan to investigate this incident," Ambassador Cameron Munter said in a statement.
Two military officials said that up to 28 troops had been killed and 11 wounded in the attack on the outposts, about 2.5km from the Afghan border. The Pakistani military said 24 troops were killed and 13 wounded.
Irresponsible act
It remains unclear what exactly happened, but the attack took place around 2am (2100 GMT) in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants.
"Pakistani troops effectively responded immediately in self-defence to Nato/ISAF's aggression with all available weapons," the Pakistani military statement said.
About 40 Pakistani army troops were stationed at the outposts, military sources said. Two officers were reported among the dead. "The latest attack by Nato forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep," said a senior Pakistani military officer, requesting anonymity.
Reflecting the confusion of war in an ill-defined border area, an Afghan border police official, Edrees Momand, said joint Afghan-Nato troops near the outpost had detained several militants.
"I am not aware of the casualties on the other side of the border, but those we have detained aren't Afghan Taliban," he said, implying they were Pakistani Taliban operating in Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan-Pakistan border is often poorly marked, and differs between maps by up to 8km in some places.
The incident occurred a day after Allen met Kayani to discuss border control and enhanced cooperation.
