WASHINGTON - Pakistan does not view a U.S. air strike that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers at a border post near Afghanistan as an intentional hostile act, Pakistan's ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday. Ambassador Husain Haqqani also told Reuters in an interview that the incident was not expected to cause the Pakistani government to reconsider its relationship with Washington, despite strong protests in Islamabad, where the U.S. ambassador was summoned for a meeting with the foreign office.
"We will look upon this as an incident that is not an intentional action to cause harm to Pakistan," said Haqqani, who recently took up his duties in Washington. "The issue has been discussed between representatives of the government of Pakistan and representatives of the U.S. government, and we would like the circumstances of the incident investigated," he added.
"We do look upon it as not an act that should cause us to reconsider our partnership but rather to find ways of improving that partnership," Haqqani said.
| Perhaps the Paks have a list of the deaders and have now realized life is a little easier ... |
A US air strike in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday in which at least 11 Pakistani soldiers were killed was "legitimate" and "self-defense," Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said. "Although it is early, every indication we have is that it was a legitimate strike in self-defense against forces that had attacked the coalition forces," Morrell said.
The US State Department said earlier Wednesday it was "sad to see the loss of life" among allied Pakistani troops who Islamabad says were killed in a "cowardly" US air strike near the Afghan border. "This is a regrettable incident. We're sad to see the loss of life among the Pakistani military, who are our partners in fighting terror," Gonzalo Gallegos, a State Department spokesman, told reporters.
"This is a reminder that better cross-border communications between forces is vital," the director of press relations, reading from a statement. "We are sure that military on both sides will look into the matter and review how to prevent recurrence and how to prevent extremists from using this area," he added.
Gallegos added that the US ambassador to Islamabad, Anne Patterson, met with Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir to "discuss the incident," but gave no details of the talks. |