Thaindian News

Islamabad, Nov 26 (IANS) At least 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 15 others were injured after NATO helicopters from Afghanistan attacked a border checkpost early Saturday, leading to Islamabad lodging a strong protest with Washington.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani strongly condemned the attack, so did the foreign ministry, which said the government was considering blockade of supplies to NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Gilani called it “outrageous” and convened an emergency meeting of the cabinet, BBC reported.

According to a military spokesman, NATO helicopters carried out “indiscriminate and unprovoked firing” on the Pakistani checkpost in Mohmand agency, a district in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan (FATA), the Geo News reported.

According to the foreign ministry, Gilani strongly condemned the NATO/ISAF attack on the Pakistani post that reportedly killed 28 Pakistani security personnel.

“On prime minister’s direction, the matter is being taken up by the foreign ministry, in the strongest terms, with the NATO and the US,” the ministry said in a statement.

The attack was carried out on the Salala checkpost in Baizai district, said security officials in the Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border and a military official in Peshawar.

Condemning the NATO air strikes on three Pakistani border posts, the Pakistan’s foreign ministry spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said that Pakistan was considering blockade of supplies to NATO forces in neighbouring Afghanistan after the incident. Local media reported that the Pakistani authorities had already suspended supplies.

She was quoted by local TV channels as describing the NATO strikes as “attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty”.

Janjua confirmed that Pakistan has formally lodged protest with the US State Department in Washington.

“We will review several options after investigations are completed,” Janjua said. “Suspension of NATO supplies could be one of the options.”

According to sources, NATO helicopters entered Pakistani airspace in Mohmmand tribal region from Afghanistan and fired at least three border posts, killing 28 soldiers and injuring 15 others. All posts were also destroyed, Xinhua reported.

The NATO-led ISAF said it had initiated an investigation into an incident.

“The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is investigating an incident that occurred early this morning along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” the ISAF said in a statement.

“This incident has my highest personal attention and my commitment to thoroughly investigating it to determine the facts,” General John R. Allen, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, said in the statement.