Pakistan protests attack ‘in strongest terms’ with Nato, US

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said it was reviewing its alliance with the United States and Nato after up to 26 soldiers were killed in cross-border Nato air strikes, plunging frosty US ties into deeper crisis.

Pakistan sealed its Afghan border to Nato, shutting down a supplies lifeline for some 130,000 US-led foreign troops fighting the Taliban, and called on the United States to leave a secretive air base reportedly used by CIA drones.

Islamabad protested to Nato and the United States in the strongest terms — summoning US ambassador Cameron Munter, branding the strike a violation of international law and warning there could be serious repercussions.

The US-led Nato force in Afghanistan admitted it was “highly likely” that the force’s aircraft caused the deaths before dawn on Saturday, inflaming US-Pakistani relations still reeling from the May killing of Osama bin Laden.

The US commander in Afghanistan promised a full investigation and sent his condolences over any troops “who may have been killed” on the Afghan border with Pakistan’s lawless tribal belt, branded an al-Qaeda hub by Washington.

The military said funerals will be held at 9:30 am Sunday in the northwestern city of Peshawar for those soldiers killed.

Nato troops frequently carry out operations against Taliban insurgents close to the border with Pakistan, which in many places is unmarked, although the extent to which those operations are coordinated with Pakistan is unclear.

Afghan and US officials accuse Pakistani troops at worst of colluding with the Taliban or at best of standing by while insurgents fire across the border from Pakistani soil, often in clear sight of Pakistani border posts.

At the same time Pakistan, battling its own Taliban insurgency in the northwest and dependent on billions of dollars in US aid, gives the US-led war effort in Afghanistan vital logistics support.

Key questions remain unanswered about what exactly happened in Mohmand district, just hours after General John Allen, the US commander in Afghanistan, discussed coordination with Pakistan’s army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.

Pakistan said Nato helicopters and fighter aircraft fired “unprovoked” overnight Friday-Saturday on two army border posts, killing 24 to 26 troops and wounding 13, adding that Pakistani troops had returned fire.

The government said the attacks were “a grave infringement” of sovereignty, a “serious transgression of the oft-conveyed red lines”.

A spokesman for Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, confirmed that foreign soldiers, working with Afghan troops, called in air support for an operation near the border.

“It’s highly likely that this close air support, called by the ground forces, caused the casualties,” Jacobson told AFP.

Pakistan swiftly sealed its border with Afghanistan to Nato supplies — holding up convoys at the Torkham and Chaman crossings on the main overland US supply line into landlocked Afghanistan from the Arabian Sea port of Karachi.

An extraordinary meeting of cabinet ministers and military chiefs ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base within 15 days, despite reports that American personnel had already left.

It also said the government would “undertake a complete review of all programmes, activities and cooperative arrangements with US/Nato/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence”.

In Afghanistan, Allen promised a thorough investigation “to determine the facts” and extended his condolences to the loved ones of anyone who died.

Munter expressed “regret” over any loss of life and pledged the United States would work “closely” with Pakistan to investigate.

Relations between Pakistan and the United States have been in crisis since American troops killed bin Laden near the capital without prior warning and after a CIA contractor killed two Pakistanis in Lahore in January.

Pakistani, US and Afghan officials have traded complaints about responsibility for cross-border attacks, with each side accusing the other of not doing enough to prevent insurgent assaults on military positions.

In September 2010, Pakistan shut the main land route for Nato supplies at Torkham for 11 days after accusing NATO of killing three Pakistani troops.

The border was reopened after the United States formally apologised.

Americans have long accused Pakistan of playing a double game with the Taliban, and the issue came to a head in September when the then top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accused Pakistan of colluding in a US embassy siege in Kabul.

US drones carry out routine missile attacks on Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan’s tribal belt, where American officials say neutralising militants is vital to winning the war in Afghanistan.

Pakistan last week forced its envoy to the United States, Husain Haqqani, to step down over accusations that he sought American help in limiting Pakistan’s powerful military after the bin Laden raid.

His successor, Sherry Rehman, has yet to arrive in Washington.

US told to vacate Shamsi base; Nato supplies stopped

ISLAMABAD: Furious over the pre-dawn Nato attacks on border posts, the government on Saturday reacted sharply by indefinitely closing down supply routes used by western forces in Afghanistan and once again asking the United States to vacate an airbase previously used for drone operations. The government also said it would carry out a thorough review of its cooperation with the US and Nato.

The retaliatory decisions were taken at an emergency meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet (DCC), the country’s highest forum for defence policy consultation and coordination. The meeting was convened to discuss the Nato air strikes and make strategies for a response.

“The DCC decided to close, with immediate effect, the Nato/Isaf logistics supply lines. It also decided to ask the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase within 15 days. The DCC decided that the government will revisit and undertake a complete review of all programmes, activities and cooperative arrangements with US/Nato/Isaf, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence,” said a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office after the meeting.

The decisions, though sounding tough, apparently kept the window for negotiations open.

It was originally proposed to unilaterally terminate the Nato supply route, but ultimately the DCC settled for keeping it indefinitely closed even as it had been squelched soon after the incident and the decision by the country’s top civilian and military leadership appeared as a formal closure announcement.

The supply route remained closed for 11 days last year after Nato choppers intruded into Pakistani airspace and fired at a paramilitary force, killing two soldiers. The issue was resolved after apologies from US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Nato leaders.

About 40 per cent of Nato’s non-lethal supplies are transported through Pakistan using Chaman and Torkham border crossings — the preferred routes for being economical.

Nato has developed an alternative northern route through central Asian states as a contingency for a situation where the Pakistani route is choked.

It was for the third time this year that the US has been asked to vacate the Shamsi airbase, 300kms southwest of Quetta. But this time it has been given a 15-day ultimatum for leaving the airfield, which is under the United Arab Emirates’ control.

The two previous occasions when similar demands were made from the US were after the CIA operative Raymond Davis episode and then in the aftermath of Osama bin Laden denouement. Drone operations from the base were believed to have ceased in April and the facility is now supposedly being used for logistic purposes.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani will brief parliament on how the government intends to conduct its rocky relations with Washington in the future.

The attack is likely to cause yet another dent in Pakistan-US ties that were still recovering from strains following the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad.

Islamabad is also likely to reduce its cooperation for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan. According to a source, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar may cancel her trip to Bonn for a conference on Afghanistan and the country may be represented there at a lower level. A final decision may depend on how Washington moves to prevent the frayed ties from taking yet another slide.

PM, FM MEET PRESIDENT: President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani met at the presidency before the DCC meeting to take stock of the situation and discuss response options.

The president, according to a presidency official, told Mr Gilani and Ms Khar that the strike constituted an attack on sovereignty, was totally unacceptable and merited a forceful response.

Earlier, US Ambassador Cameron Munter was summoned to the Foreign Office over the attack. Spokesperson Tehmina Janjua said Ambassador Munter was called, on the instructions of the prime minister, to see Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir.

Mr Bashir told the ambassador that the “unprovoked attack by Nato/Isaf aircraft … deeply incensed the government and the people of Pakistan”. Ambassador Munter was further told that the Pakistani leadership believed that the “attacks are totally unacceptable, constitute a grave infringement of Pakistan’s sovereignty, are violative of international law and a serious transgression of the oft-conveyed red lines and could have serious repercussions on Pakistan-US/Nato/Isaf cooperation”.

The American envoy regretted the incident and said Washington would work with Pakistani authorities in investigating the matter.

Protests were also lodged with the State Department in Washington and Nato Headquarters in Brussels.

The Chairman of the parliamentary committee on national security, Senator Raza Rabbani, asked the government to take up the issue at all appropriate forums with full force and sought an effective strategy to deal with any such happenings in future.

Sea View militants were Chechens says AIG Karachi

Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine was the main target of the attackers, said the Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh.

KARACHI: Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh on Saturday said all five suicide bombers including woman, who blew themselves and killed two policemen at Sea View, were Chechens, DawnNews reported.

“Chechens and Uzbeks resemble in their looks as Afghanis or Pakhutuns working as labourers in border areas of Balochistan,” he pointed out.

Shaikh also said that Abdullah Shah Ghazi Shrine was the main target of the attackers.

About the Muharram security, Shaikh said that 15,000 personnel of police and rangers would be on duty to provide security in processions, and Majalis besides protection to mosques and Imam bargahs.

“A centralised control room has also been established at the CPO,” he added.

Twelve gangs involved in bank robberies says AIG Karachi

“These mainly target local banks instead of foreign banks due to inadequate security measures,” said Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh in a press conference on Saturday.

KARACHI: At least 12 gangs are actively involved in bank robberies in the metropolis, said Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh on Saturday.

“These mainly target local banks instead of foreign banks due to inadequate security measures,” he said while addressing a press briefing at Central Police Office (CPO).

He said that some very important leads have been traced which would help in a major crackdown on bank robbers and soon these robberies will be contained to a significant level.

He said that on Nov 24, the police arrested two robbers in a failed bid to loot a bank in Aziz Bhatti police jurisdiction.

The robbers were arrested in injured condition after encounter with police and have been identified as Umar Zaman Afridi and Sharif Khan Afridi.

“During interrogation the accused disclosed involvement in 25 to 30 cases mainly of bank robberies,” Shaikh said and added that both the accused hail from Kohat.

He said that the accused have also given them useful information about other members of their gang members who have apparently vanished in the non-accessible territories of Kohat region. However, Kohat police has been approached for assistance.

The Additional IG Karachi said that during interrogation the police found no clue of the association of accused with any militant group but said its chances could not be ruled out as they were on 14-day police remand.

The AIGP said that mostly the bank robberies take place due to negligence of the staff and collaboration of private security guards who are recruited without following the given Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) laid down for their verification.

“The private security concerns never bother to get the relevant personal information given by the guards verified from the local police who in turn are supposed to check their background from his native place of residence.

He questioned that what could we expect from private personnel guarding a bank with only Rs 5,000/- monthly salary and prolonged duty hours.

Shaikh said that in the surveys conducted by specially assigned units of the police, it was discovered that the bank branches have no proper security system and even no pickets inside the bank as was practiced in the past.

Moreover, the CCTVs were just eyewash and not worthy enough to grab videos of the criminal activity while robbers take away all the records easily.

The AIG Karachi said that he will be holding a meeting with bankers very soon to ask them through the Central Bank that they should adopt latest security system of video cameras with the computerised systems also established at bank head office.

“We have also proposed them to give access to their CCTV with instant recording facility at the nearby police station,” he maintained.

In addition, he said that the SHOs will also be bound to enhance patrolling around banks and conduct snap checking in bank branches to get first hand knowledge about the guards and other movements in the bank branch.

Bail granted to Afaq Ahmed in kidnapping case

Mohajir Qaumi Movement chief Afaq Ahmed.

KARACHI: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday granted bail to Mohajir Qaumi Movement chairman Afaq Ahmed in kidnapping for ransom case, DawnNews reported.

Ahmed had been accused in 2001 of kidnapping one Jameel Baloch. However, all others accused in the case had already been granted bail.

The bail was granted by judge Khalida Yasmeen of the special court number two of the anti-terrorism court on payment of Rs 500,000.

In his application for bail, Ahmed had stated that although the police had given an undertaking to the Sindh High Court (SHC) that there were no pending cases against him on dormant files, he had been arrested in another kidnapping case. He also stated in the petition that his life was in danger.

Foreign ministry calls in Munter to lodge protest

Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Saturday called in US Ambassador Cameron Munter to lodge a strong protest on the unprovoked Nato attack on Pakistan border posts in the Mohmand Agency.

ISLAMABAD: On the instructions of Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on Saturday called in US Ambassador Cameron Munter to lodge a strong protest on the unprovoked Nato attack on Pakistan border posts in the Mohmand Agency.

The secretary conveyed to the US ambassador that the unprovoked attack by Nato/Isaf aircraft on border posts, in which 24 Pakistani troops lost their lives and another 13 were injured, had deeply incensed the government and the people of Pakistan, according to a press statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The president, prime minister and the government of Pakistan strongly condemn the attacks which were totally unacceptable, constituted a grave infringement of Pakistan’s sovereignty, were violative of international law and a serious transgression of the oft conveyed red lines and could have serious repercussions on Pakistan-US/Nato/Isaf cooperation”, the statement said.

The Ambassador was informed that the prime minister had convened an emergency meeting of the Defence Committee of the Cabinet to evaluate the situation arising from these uncalled for attacks by Nato/Isaf forces.

Strong protest has also been lodged in Washington and at the Nato Headquarters in Brussels, the statement added.

On the other hand, Munter expressed regret for the loss of life in cross-border Incident in Mohmand Agency.

In a statement issued by US embassy, Munter says “I have seen press accounts of an incident on the Pakistani-Afghan border in which Pakistani soldiers were reportedly killed.

I regret the loss of life of any Pakistani servicemen, and pledge that the United States will work closely with Pakistan to investigate this incident.”

Imran asks rulers to end alliance in ‘war on terror’

ISLAMABAD: Pakista Tehrik-i-Insaf (PTI) Chief Imran Khan on Saturday strongly condemned the unprovoked Nato attack on Salala Check Post in the Momand Agency and called upon civilian leadership to immediately withdraw from its alliance from US-led war against terrorism.

While terming the attack as an insane and immoral brutality, Khan said such attacks reflected the hollowness and counter-productivity of Pakistan’s involvement in the aimless ‘war on terror’ that had been unleashed to subdue the proud people of the region.

The PTI chief was speaking to a public gathering in Shujaabad.

He said Pakistan had already sacrificed 40,000 people and an equal number of people had been maimed and become handicapped. Pakistan had also incurred a loss of over $75 billion in the bargain, yet it was being incessantly targeted by the forces of its so-called ‘ally’, he added.

The PTI chief said that the government had failed to safeguard Pakistan’s security and strategic interests because of the compromises it had made under the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) with foreign forces to come to power in the country.

He said government did not have the moral stature to stand up for defending Pakistan’s strategic interests and should, therefore, quit immediately.

Imran Khan said that Pakistan’s involvement in the war had radicalised its society and was also breeding anti-Americanism.

“Time has come for the government to pull out of this inhuman conflict and initiate a purposeful dialogue to bring peace to the country and the region,” said the PTI chief. Pakistan’s continued involvement in this war would only produce more militancy and destruction, he added.

Pakistan stops Nato supplies after raid kills 28 troops

YAKKAGHUND: Nato helicopters attacked a military checkpoint in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing up to 28 troops and prompting Pakistan to shut the vital supply route for Nato troops fighting in Afghanistan, Pakistani officials said.

The Foreign Office condemned Saturday’s attack.

“Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has condemned in the strongest terms the Nato/Isaf attack on the Pakistani post,” ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said in a statement.

“On his direction, the matter is being taken (up) by the foreign ministry in the strongest terms with Nato and the US.”

Two military officials said that up to 28 troops had been killed and 11 wounded in the attack on the Salala checkpoint, about 2.5 kilometres from the Afghan border.

The attack took place around 2 a.m. in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants.

A senior Pakistani military officer said efforts were under way to bring the bodies of the slain soldiers to Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand tribal region.

“The latest attack by Nato forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep,” he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

About 40 Pakistani army troops were stationed at the outpost, military sources said.

Two officers were reported among the dead.

Nato supply trucks and fuel tankers bound for Afghanistan were stopped at Jamrud town in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar hours after the raid, officials said.

“We have halted the supplies and some 40 tankers and trucks have been returned from the check post in Jamrud,” Mutahir Zeb, a senior government official, told Reuters.

Another official said the supplies had been stopped for security reasons.

“There is possibility of attacks on Nato supplies passing through the volatile Khyber tribal region, therefore we sent them back towards Peshawar to remain safe,” he said.

Pakistan is a vital land route for 49 per cent of Nato’s supplies to its troops in Afghanistan, a Nato spokesman said.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said the coalition there was aware of “an incident” and was gathering more information.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan border is often poorly marked, and differs between maps by up to five miles in some places.

The incident occurred a day after US General John Allen met Pakistani Army Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to discuss border control and enhanced cooperation.

This raid is the largest and most serious incident of its kind. A similar incident on September 30, 2010, which killed two Pakistani troops, led to the closure of one of Nato’s supply routes through Pakistan for 10 days.

Nato apologised for that incident, which it said happened when Nato gunships mistook warning shots by the Pakistani forces for a militant attack.