Pakistan: US report on airstrike ‘contrary to facts’

Pakistan released its own investigation into the November incident in which 26 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a NATO airstrike on Monday, calling the U.S. investigation “contrary to facts” and placing the blame on U.S. and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces.

“The fundamental cause of the incident of 26th November 2011 was the failure of U.S./ISAF to share its near-border operation with Pakistan at any level,” Pakistan’s military said in a statement Monday. “The US Investigation Report is structured around the argument of ‘self defense’ and ‘proportional use of force,’ an argument which is contrary to facts.”

The U.S. military investigation found that U.S. forces responded “with appropriate force” and were acting in self-defense in the attack that killed 26 Pakistanis on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. NATO officials have said that Pakistani troops fired on ISAF forces, something Pakistan disputed.

Pakistan’s report said that ISAF troops “violated all mutually agreed procedures with Pakistan for near-border operations put in place to avert such uncalled for actions.” The report claimed that the troops carried out an “unprovoked” attack on Pakistani posts located inside Pakistan.

The report claimed that ISAF troops continued engagement after being told about it by the Pakistani military at multiple levels, and concluded that “affixing partial responsibility of the incident on Pakistan is therefore, unjustified and unacceptable.”

Pakistan’s report was designed as a rebuttal to the U.S. report, although Pakistani officials declined to participate in the U.S. investigation.

The November incident further harmed the already tenuous Pakistani-U.S. relations, and Pakistan cut off NATO supply routs from Pakistan into Afghanistan in response.