NATO forces may have been lured into attacking friendly Pakistani border posts in a calculated maneuver by the Taliban, according to preliminary US military reports on the deadliest friendly fire incident with Pakistan since the Afghanistan war began, USA Today said in a report on Tuesday. Quoting an Associated Press report, USA Today said the NATO airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers over the weekend in an apparent case of mistaken identity.
It said that a joint US-Afghan patrol was attacked by the Taliban early Saturday morning. While pursuing the enemy in the poorly marked border area, the patrol seems to have mistaken one of the Pakistani troop outposts for a militant encampment and called in a NATO gunship and attack helicopters to open fire. According to news article, US officials say the reports suggest the Taliban may have deliberately tried to provoke a cross-border firefight that would set back fragile partnerships between the US and NATO forces and Pakistani soldiers at the ill-defined border. Officials described the records on condition of anonymity to discuss classified matters. According to the US military records described to the AP, the joint US and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants. Before responding, the joint US-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistan Army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said. Some two hours later, still hunting the insurgents — who had by then apparently fled in the direction of Pakistani border posts — the US commander spotted what he thought was a militant encampment, with heavy weapons mounted on tripods.
The joint patrol called for the airstrikes at around 2:21am Pakistani time, not realising the encampment was apparently the Pakistani border post. Records show the aerial response included Apache attack helicopters and an AC-130 gunship. According to the report, US officials are working on the assumption that the Taliban chose the location for the first attack to create just such confusion and draw US and Pakistani forces into firing on each other, according to US officials briefed on the operation.