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Afghanistan
Afghan soldiers called in deadly NATO airstrike
2011-11-28
[Yahoo News] Afghan troops who came under fire while operating near the Pakistain border called in the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
Arclight airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pak soldiers at two posts along the frontier, Afghan officials said Sunday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it's unclear who attacked the Afghan troops before dawn Saturday, but that the soldiers were fired upon from the direction of the Pak border posts that were hit in the strikes. The border area where the soldiers were operating contains a mix of Pak forces and Islamist Death Eaters.

The incident has driven to new lows the United States' already tattered alliance with Pakistain, a relationship that is vital to winding down the 10-year-old Afghan war. The Pakistain army has said the alleged NATO attack was unprovoked and has insisted there wasn't Death Eater activity near the border posts in the Mohmand
... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar...
tribal area. Outraged by the strike, Islamabad closed its border to trucks delivering supplies to coalition troops in Afghanistan and demanded the U.S. vacate a base used by American drones within 15 days.
Posted by:Fred

#9  Scew up, it seems.

“We told them, hold your horses, these are ours,” the official said. While repeated urgent appeals went up the coalition chain of command, he said, the airstrike continued for an hour and a half against two Pakistani border positions and a contingent of troops.
Posted by: KBK   2011-11-28 21:32  

#8  Hopefully this is the trigger that sets our exit in motion. I don't care what the reason is, we need to get out of that hellhole, stop paying the Pakis for access to the hellhole and build our relationship with the Indians. Sooner the better.
Posted by: remoteman   2011-11-28 16:05  

#7  Of course, we have no idea where the border posts are, and wouldn't cross-check even if we did. Major scew-up or stiff warning?
Posted by: KBK   2011-11-28 14:38  

#6  Bet the US has FLIR video showing the Paki border outposts firing into Afghanistan.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165   2011-11-28 14:07  

#5  According to AP, it was Afghan troops who called in the strike because they were being fired upon:

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Afghan troops who came under fire while operating near the Pakistan border called in the NATO airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two posts along the frontier, Afghan officials said Sunday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said it's unclear who attacked the Afghan troops before dawn Saturday, but that the soldiers were fired upon from the direction of the Pakistani border posts that were hit in the strikes. The border area where the soldiers were operating contains a mix of Pakistani forces and Islamist militants.
Posted by: trailing wife   2011-11-28 14:00  

#4  The only thing we know for sure, is that 1728 more virgins are gainfully employed.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2011-11-28 12:02  

#3  Actually, Frank, it's not impossible - the air stikes could have been called in by the Afghan troops who were themselves Taliban, intending to achieve exactly what happened. They could have faked the attack on themselves or had no actual attack underway at all.
Posted by: Glenmore   2011-11-28 10:22  

#2  The Pakistain army has said the alleged NATO attack was unprovoked and has insisted there wasn't Death Eater activity near the border posts in the Mohmand

shut your lying pie-holes
Posted by: Frank G   2011-11-28 07:55  

#1  I still believe that this attack was 'by design'. Even if the mighty Pak Army unit didn't fire on the Afghan forces (not saying they didn't, just theorizing), a few intelligently placed Talibunny snipers and/or 'rocket boys' could make it appear so. The inevitable 'counter-battery' aimed at the Pak posts was the desired result.

The bunnies (be they Haqqani or other) need the serious 'conflict' between the Paks and US. Even if this separation is short-lived, it buys them some time to resurrect their infrastructure and weapons/cash deliveries that have been 'stressed' of late.
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2011-11-28 07:54  

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