25 Pakistani soldiers reportedly killed in NATO helicopter shelling - Dawn.com

From Dawn.com

YAKKAGHUND: Nato helicopters from Afghanistan intruded into northwest Pakistan and attacked a military check post near the border on Saturday, killing up to 25 troops and wounding 14, Pakistani military officials said. A senior Pakistani military officer said efforts were under way to bring the bodies to the headquarters of Mohmand tribal region from their post located on hilltops near the Afghan border. “The latest attack by Nato forces on our post would have serious repercussions as they without any reason attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep,” he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

Guess I'll see what happens when I wake up.

Night.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
reply to post by Domo1

 

They wouldn't be taking ``potshots`` at the helicopters if they weren't in Pakistani airspace.

NATO needs to withdraw from that whole hellhole of a region. NOW.

Wrong Wrong Wrong.

First we need to DESTROY the ISI, this is where the 9/11 money trail led to, these double dealing backstabbing bastards have been supporting terrorism and extremism worldwide and this has all been going on under a blanket of lies and deceit by the Pakistani Government that portrays themselves as friends of the west.

Al-Qaeda pffft...these guys trained the Mujahideen FFS, they are an extremely dangerous Nuclear threat not only to their neighbors but to the rest of the world as well.

NATO USA RUSSIA CHINA all need to unite to put these bastards out of action...permanently.

This is an act of war. Plain and simple. If 26 Americans soldiers were killed by another country, they will probably launch an invasion. Shows how peaceful you Americans are eh?

reply to post by JudgeDeath


wow seriously? Your own Government funded 9/11 and you blame the Pakistanis? You kill a million civilians in 10 years and even have the audacity to call Pakistanis "bastards"..

What I find staggering is as follows,
I woke up and read saw this news.

NATO probably the USA went into Sovereign Airspace and attacked troops on the ground, killing 25.

It is an act of war in anyones book.

However it is not even the leading news on BBC or SKY.

If 25 Soldiers from the USA had been killed by an airstrike within the USA on say the Mexico border last night, We would be in an very different world now. I cant even imagine the violent responce.

We all know this is true, why is it ok to do it to Pakistan but would envoke huge retalliation.

Mind Blowing arrogance.

Well done the USA you just created more enemies and terrorists for the future with the children of these soldiers.

Kind Regards,

Elf

reply to post by MischeviousElf


It is 2nd in line to the Strikes taking place in the UK. Seemingly, there was an operations on the Afghan and Pakistani Border, where Air Support was called, in which lead to this incident. A Commander was interviewed live on Sky News:

Sky News

Pakistani officials have responded with fury to an apparent attack by Nato helicopters on an Afghan border checkpoint they say killed 26 soldiers.

The "unprovoked and indiscriminate" attack took place in Mohmand tribal region, the Pakistani military said.

BBC News

Pakistan just responded...

Pakistan cuts off NATO supply route to Afghanistan (Reuters)

As another poster said, if tables were turned and 28 American soldiers were killed, not by accident, by whoever, there would be hell to pay.

Edit : reading Pakistani forums, you BET they are pissed... at their own government and military for letting this happen... and not letting Pakistani soldiers shoot down any drone/helicopter/plane that crosses the border.

Some are calling to close the Pakistan-Afghanistan border forever... some are calling for a Pakistani attack on a NATO base in Afghanistan as payback... most of them see this as an act of war and rightfully so.

And if you think that's bad, just think of the massive ATS thread we would have right now and all the people pissed if an Iranian helicopter had crossed the border into Afghanistan and killed 28 soldiers? Ya.

reply to post by Vitchilo


Can't blame them, the death toll is now at 28 as Pakistan's Foreign Office calls the NATO/ISAF raid a "flagrant violation of it's sovereignty". If this was the other way around we'd probably already have tanks rolling through Islamabad right about now wreaking havoc.

reply to post by concernedcitizen519


Well I bet we'll see payback from this. After the ``Bin Laden`` raid that humiliated the Pakistani military around the world, the ISI stepped up a lot their support for the Talibans...

Well I bet you ain't see nothing yet.

Wouldn't surprise me if we see a big suicide attack by the Haqqani network on NATO troops soon, and it'll be like all the others, done with military precision and they will aim for at least 28 dead NATO soldiers.

If I were Pakistan, I would just cut off all NATO supply routes, forever. With winter coming in Afghanistan, cutting HALF of all supplies would screw NATO troops and maybe force them to get the hell out of Afghanistan sooner than expected.

What we could see in Pakistan is a coup and a cutting of all relations with NATO ending the ``war on terror`` cooperation in Pakistan, which would put Pakistan and NATO on a collision course.

reply to post by Vitchilo


True say. America is the one always complaining about whatever's going on in Pakistan's borders but it's the Pakistani's who are getting killed on the daily, today they were killed by those who are supposed to protect them. The whole thing is getting ridiculous, if we weren't at a low point before you can sure bet we're at one now. I don't know what else the Pakistani's can do without risking more military action, closing the supply routes is smart seeing as the U.S. can't retaliate to the retaliation but anything with a physical response will surely get things going.

"Nato admits 'highly likely' it caused Pakistan troop deaths"
www.bbc.co.uk...


This is the major downside to NATO and similar 'alliances'. It should only be used in collaborative defense - such as (just for example) Russia invading Europe. When this is taken further afield, actions like these can be done under the "nato" banner with far less accountability. "US army attacks Pakistani army checkpoint and kills 24 soldiers" would be much worse politically.

This'll no doubt be made to look like an accidental raid on what they thought were taliban, or something.

reply to post by Vitchilo


I doubt Pakistani pressure would get us to leave early. NATO isn't going to back down from Pakistan. If they cause some kind of mass casualty event in Afghanistan or elsewhere against NATO forces, the NATO charter could be invoked and Pakistan may find itself subject to a massive air campaign.

Another thing to consider is if NATO won't back down to Russia over the missile shield, why would they back down to Pakistan? Russia is a far greater power and threat than Pakistan ever thought of being.

NATO just unknowingly added 30 more NATO troops deaths to the list. Watch it soon in the news.

Originally posted by JudgeDeath

Originally posted by Vitchilo
reply to post by Domo1

 

They wouldn't be taking ``potshots`` at the helicopters if they weren't in Pakistani airspace.

NATO needs to withdraw from that whole hellhole of a region. NOW.

Wrong Wrong Wrong.

First we need to DESTROY the ISI, this is where the 9/11 money trail led to, these double dealing backstabbing bastards have been supporting terrorism and extremism worldwide and this has all been going on under a blanket of lies and deceit by the Pakistani Government that portrays themselves as friends of the west.

Al-Qaeda pffft...these guys trained the Mujahideen FFS, they are an extremely dangerous Nuclear threat not only to their neighbors but to the rest of the world as well.

Wrong wrong wrong

The CIA used the ISI as its device for training and arming the mujahideen against the Soviets in Afghanistan. Al Qaeda was born out of this, along with other factions like the Northern Alliance (America's current Afghan proxy faction who they replaced with the non-compliant Taliban).

If you want to target the root cause of your woes, then you need to accept that it was born right out of your own country.

And if you don't believe my claims about the CIA and ISI, then I implore you to read a nice, fat book called "Ghost Wars" by Steve Coll.

And if you don't like how regional factions in the middle east target US forces there... then why is the US still there?

reply to post by concernedcitizen519


will US Officials be shocked when Pakistan
decides to cut ties with NATO
and invite Chinese or Russian troops to take US's place?

only in public.
with friends like the US who needs enemies?

So who bribed the helicopter crew to do this?

Or do they let any incompetant gung-ho joyride those things in the name of peace.

I know facts are still to surface but right now I feel sympathy for those murdered in their sleep.

They need to invest in a basic air defense system along the border, any time there is a violation of the border, multiple warnings would be given, if they are not obeyed those choppers will be shot down.

reply to post by nerbot


Supposedly it was two outposts hit by gunships and then hit by airstrikes from fixed wing aircraft.

I am sure there is far more to this story than we have been told. I would not be surprised to find out that fleeing Haqqani fighters took refuge at the outposts thinking it was safe.

reply to post by concernedcitizen519

Don't jump TOO fast to defend the Pakistani military. The Paki military Intelligence has been running the Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists since they were founded in the early 90's. This is *NOT* one of those situations where NATO or the U.S. can be looked upon as the clear bad guy or aggressor. Certainly not casually as a safe assumption as other areas may be.

Pakistan's Government and Military leaders are bloody up to their eyeballs in the fighting and death across that entire region of the world. Perhaps the NATO helicopter had good reason..and perhaps they didn't. Perhaps the Paki's shot at them...or maybe it was just payback for a similar shooting incident earlier.

Either way, that is one area I will NOT jump to the stories making the West look bad as automatic truth. It's FAR too complicated there to approach it in such simple terms, IMHO.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
reply to post by concernedcitizen519

 

Don't jump TOO fast to defend the Pakistani military. The Paki military Intelligence has been running the Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists since they were founded in the early 90's. This is *NOT* one of those situations where NATO or the U.S. can be looked upon as the clear bad guy or aggressor. Certainly not casually as a safe assumption as other areas may be.

Pakistan's Government and Military leaders are bloody up to their eyeballs in the fighting and death across that entire region of the world. Perhaps the NATO helicopter had good reason..and perhaps they didn't. Perhaps the Paki's shot at them...or maybe it was just payback for a similar shooting incident earlier.

Either way, that is one area I will NOT jump to the stories making the West look bad as automatic truth. It's FAR too complicated there to approach it in such simple terms, IMHO.

No. It's simple.
NATO gunships murdered the troops during sleep.