Pakistani officials outraged by the deaths of 24 soldiers in a NATO airstrike over the weekend have denied reports the soldiers caused the attack by firing on coalition troops patrolling along the border in Afghanistan. Major General Athar Abbas accused NATO and Afghan officials of “making excuses” for an unprovoked attack.
The attack, which was carried out by two NATO helicopters, occurred Saturday at a military checkpoint in the northwest district of Mohmand Agency. The Pakistan Foreign Ministry said 13 soldiers were wounded, most of them critically.
While the ministry called the attack “totally unacceptable,” the NATO secretary general said it was a “tragic unintended” incident. "NATO remains strongly committed to work with Pakistan to improve cooperation to avoid such tragedies in the future," the secretary general said in a statement.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the incident "negates the progress made by the two countries on improving relations and forces Pakistan to revisit the terms of engagement.”
NATO is already seeing consequences from the attack – Pakistan has shut down at least two supply routes since Saturday.
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