NATO attack kills 28 Pak soldiers,Kayani vows effective response

Munter expressed regret and offered assistance in probing the incident.

NATO helicopters and combat jets attacked two border posts in Pakistans northwest early today,killing at least 28 Pakistani soldiers and provoking a dramatic escalation of tensions between Washington and Islamabad.

Pakistan closed all roads to Afghanistan,cutting off supplies to NATO forces,and gave the US 15 days to vacate the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan,widely believed to be used by the CIA to launch drone attacks in the tribal areas along the Af-Pak border.

Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani assailed NATO/ISAFs blatant and unacceptable act,and ordered all necessary steps for an effective response to this irresponsible act.

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A major and captain were among those killed in the 2 am attack on the border posts in the Baizai area of the Mohmand tribal region in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Around 15 other personnel were wounded in the incident,the worst of its kind in a decade of US military presence in Afghanistan.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governor Masood Kausar,speaking in Islamabad,put the death toll at 26. A statement from the Pak military said 24 soldiers had been killed. However,other officials were quoted by the media as saying that 28 soldiers were killed. Around 40-odd soldiers were reported to have been present at the two posts at the time of the attack.

Within hours,Pakistan sealed the highway crossings along the Afghanistan frontier,stopping all container trucks and tankers carrying NATO supplies. Over 150 vehicles were turned back to Peshawar.

In Islamabad,Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir called in US Ambassador Cameron Munter to lodge a strong protest against the attack,which had deeply incensed the government and the people of Pakistan,the Foreign Office said in a statement.

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Munter expressed regret and offered assistance in probing the incident.

Gen. Carsten Jacobson,spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed in Kabul that NATO aircraft had killed Pakistani soldiers,and that the ISAF was investigating.

Close air support was called in,in the development of the tactical situation,and it is what highly likely caused the Pakistan casualties,Gen. Jacobson said. We are aware that Pakistani soldiers perished. We dont know the size,the magnitude.Rezaul H Laskar