The Pakistan Army on Friday rejected a US media report that it was Pakistani officials who gave the green signal for the NATO airstrike in Mohmand that killed 24 troops, not aware that their own forces were present in the targeted area.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the US officials said while giving their first detailed explanation of the worst friendly-fire incident in the 10-year-old war that an Afghan-led assault force that included US commandos was hunting Taliban militants when it came under fire from an encampment along the border with Pakistan. “The commandos thought they were being fired on by the militants, but they turned out to be Pakistani military personnel who had established a temporary campsite,” they were quoted as saying. “According to the initial US account from the field, the commandos requested airstrikes against the encampment, prompting the team to contact a joint border-control center to determine whether Pakistani forces were in the area,” a US official was quoted as saying. The border-control centre is manned by US, Afghan and Pakistani representatives. But the US and Afghan forces conducting the November 26 commando operation had not been notified the centre in advance that they planned to strike the Taliban near that part of the border, the officials said.
“When contacted, Pakistani representatives at the centre said there were no Pakistani military forces in the area identified by the commandos, clearing the way for the airstrikes,” the US officials had said. A Pakistani security official, however, categorically denied the newspaper report and said the aircraft had already engaged when Pakistan was contacted.