| The killing of 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers in American airstrikes last month might have been prevented if the precise location of a border checkpoint had been in an American database used to prevent accidental attacks on friendly forces, the New York Times has quoted American and Pakistani officials as saying. Had the grid co-ordinates of the post on the border with Afghanistan been in the database, red flags would have immediately gone up when allied troops called in airstrikes during a border clash with insurgents, American officials briefed on an investigation into the strikes told the newspaper on Tuesday. Separately, APP quoted the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) spokesman on Wednesday as terming the report factually incorrect. The spokesman said, "The grid co-ordinates of all the posts on the Pakistani side of the border had been shared with the coalition forces at least thrice since 2003." |