NATO strike

Pakistan has authorized commanders of its border posts to return fire in case of a future attack by NATO troops stationed in Afghanistan. According to Pakistani media reports on Friday the country's army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, circulated a letter reviewing the chain of command this week.

Officers will no longer have to check back with headquarters before returning fire at NATO planes carrying out hostile maneuvers in Pakistani airspace, the new orders stipulate.

These reports come as relations between Pakistan and the US are especially strained after a NATO aerial attack destroyed two Pakistani border posts and killed 24 soldiers last weekend.

'Green light'

The blame game between Islamabad and Washington continued on Friday with a report in the Wall Street Journal claiming that Pakistani officials actually gave the green light for the NATO strikes, since they were unaware there were Pakistani troops in the area.

US officials who had apparently been briefed on the preliminary investigation into the incident were cited by the daily as saying that an Afghan-led force including US commandos was chasing Taliban militants near the Afghan-Pakistani border when it came under fire.

Before calling in air strikes on what they thought was a militant encampment, team members contacted a joint command-and-control center manned by US, Afghan and Pakistani troops. Reportedly, Pakistani representatives said there were no friendly forces in the area.

However, the officials also said that errors had been made on both sides. "There was not good situational awareness to who was where and who was doing what," one official was quoted as saying.

Categorical denial

Although Pakistan did not immediately comment on the Wall Street Journal report officially, a Pakistani military commander categorically denied the account. "Wrong information about the area of operation was provided to Pakistani officials a few minutes before the strike," said an official, speaking to the Reuters on condition that he was not named. "Pakistan did not officially have any prior information about any operation in the area," he said.

For his part, Haji Adeel, a senator from the Awami National Party, told Deutsche Welle he did not think there had been any prior consultations. He also criticized the fact that Pakistani investigators had not been invited to help conduct the investigation.

"They [US officials] say they will conduct the investigation themselves and not include anyone else or divulge the findings. What sort of investigation is that? The truth will only be revealed when our representatives are also included."

The formal report on the incident by US investigators is due to be completed over the next three weeks.

The White House has said it is premature to consider apologizing while the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages.

'Communication breakdown'

Meanwhile, in a rare statement responding to criticism of its handling of the incident, the Pakistani military said its response to the strike could have been more "effective" if the air force had been called in but said there had been a "breakdown of communication" at various levels.

The army, which is accountable to nobody, maintains the attack lasted close to two hours and was an "act of deliberate aggression." It has said that US and Afghan forces did not stop firing despite repeated pleas.

However, NATO commanders and US officials dispute this account, which is why some Pakistanis had wondered why the ground troops were not defended by Pakistan's fighter jets and helicopters stationed near the border.

Pakistan reacted to the NATO attack last weekend by saying it would not attend next week's conference about Afghanistan in Bonn. On Friday, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar confirmed this decision, saying she did not think "there was a very strong case to reconsider it."

Author: Anne Thomas (dpa, Reuters, AP)
Editor: Grahame Lucas