NationStates Jolt Archive


Afghans claim Pak officer shot US soldier dead.

Aryavartha
15-05-2007, 02:52
Claims and counter claims. It is difficult to decide whom to believe since NONE of the parties involved (US military, Pak military, Afghans) are trustworthy (when it comes to the events in the region) especially when there are no other parties around.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6654605.stm
A US soldier has been shot dead after meeting Pakistani troops at a town near the Afghan border, Pakistan's military spokesman has said.

A Pakistani soldier also died in the shooting, Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said. He blamed the attack on militants.

A Nato statement said one of its personnel had been killed but did not confirm the soldier's nationality.

Maj Gen Arshad denied Afghan government claims a Pakistani officer opened fire on the visiting US and Afghan soldiers.

Nato spokeswoman Lieutenant Colonel Maria Carl said she had little information about "who did it or anything else, other than that they received gunfire after leaving this border meeting".

Besides the Nato fatality, the alliance said two of its soldiers and two civilian employees were injured in the incident.

Border clashes

Representatives of the two countries and Nato were meeting to try to calm tension after cross border clashes over the weekend, the BBC's Alastair Leithead reports from Afghanistan.

The fighting had seen Afghan and Pakistani troops trading gunfire across the border, leaving several people dead, some of them civilians.

Tensions between the two neighbours are high, with Afghanistan frequently accusing the Pakistanis of failing to prevent infiltration by Taleban fighters.

US troops serving under the command of the Nato-led international peacekeeping force crossed the border into Pakistan on Monday to discuss the unrest with their Pakistani counterparts. Afghan troops went with them.

According to Maj Gen Arshad of the Pakistani military, their convoy was attacked as they left the meeting in the north-western town of Teri Mangal.

"We don't know who fired. We have ordered an inquiry. We have cordoned off the area," Maj Gen Arshad said.

He said several US and Pakistani soldiers had been hurt by gunfire.

However, an Afghan defence ministry spokesman, Zahir Azimi, said the US troops had been attacked by a Pakistani soldier.

"At the meeting, a Pakistani officer rose up and fired at US soldiers, resulting in the deaths of two soldiers and the wounding of two others," he said.

He said casualties were evacuated by US helicopter.

Maj Gen Arshad rejected the Afghan account of the incident.

There is some fighting going on between Pak and Afghan forces at the border..

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/World/Rest_of_World/12_killed_in_Afghan-Pakistan_border_clash/articleshow/2045348.cms
KHOST (AFGHANISTAN): Eight policemen and four civilians have been killed in artillery clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces which continued for a second day on Monday, Afghan military officials said.

The fighting, described by Afghanistan as the worst for decades between the two countries, erupted early on Sunday in Afghanistan's Paktia province.

"Eight policemen and four civilians have been killed since Monday," army general Sami-Ul Haq Badar said.

Badar said "scattered firing" continued on Monday. Afghan reinforcements armed with artillery and armoured tanks were dispatched to the area.

A provincial police official, Ghulam Dastgi, gave the same death toll.

The Afghan interior ministry, which handles border matters, said in a statement that Pakistani troops had occupied two Afghan border posts for two hours on Sunday but were pushed back by Afghan forces.

Afghan troops and tribesmen later seized and held two Pakistan posts for four hours, the ministry said.

It did not give any information about the casualties. The ministry said the clashes "erupted due to a misunderstanding between two Afghan and Pakistani border posts."

Pakistani military spokesman Major General Waheed Arshad said in Islamabad that commanders from both militaries and their counterparts in the NATO and US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan met on Monday to solve the issue.
Call to power
15-05-2007, 02:58
I think I will go with the Afghan military on this one, Pakistan has been on my naughty list for awhile what with the whole taleban this taleban that
Aryavartha
15-05-2007, 03:16
I think I will go with the Afghan military on this one, Pakistan has been on my naughty list for awhile what with the whole taleban this taleban that

My sympathies are with the Afghans, but I would not fully believe their version without more sources/info (which I am afraid we won't be getting anytime soon, if at all)
Soviestan
15-05-2007, 03:18
Oh yes. Afghans are always to be trusted with regards to Pakistan:rolleyes:
Deus Malum
15-05-2007, 03:23
Oh yes. Afghans are always to be trusted with regards to Pakistan:rolleyes:

What an amusing comment from you. So which side do you believe, then?
Aryavartha
16-05-2007, 06:03
This from a Pakistani paper

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007/05/16/story_16-5-2007_pg7_6
PESHAWAR: A Pakistani paramilitary soldier belonging to areas close to Waziristan shouted Allah-u-Akbar (God is great) and opened fire as he saw Americans on Monday, sources in Kurram Agency said on Tuesday.

A Pakistani and a US soldier were killed moments after they walked out from a school building near the Pak-Afghan border in the Kurram tribal region after a “flag meeting” on Monday.

“A paramilitary soldier, who belonged to the Bhittani tribe and was deployed there for the security of American and Afghan military officials, opened fire, and cross-fire followed in which he was killed,” the sources told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. Information regarding the paramilitary soldier’s involvement in the shooting was “obtained from different people”, the sources added.

Military spokesman Maj Gen Waheed Arshad said he had “no information” that linked a Pakistani paramilitary soldier to the killing of the American. “I’ve no such information and an investigation has been ordered,” he told Daily Times. “I don’t have preliminary results of the investigation.” He blamed the attack on unidentified “miscreants”.

The Associated Press quoted an unnamed US military official as saying in Washington that US soldiers had “gotten into a truck and were preparing to leave when a Pakistani militiaman walked up and opened fire. Return US fire killed the gunman.” Arshad said he did not see the Kabul-datelined AP story. The Bhittani tribe lives in areas from Tank to Lakki Marwat along the border with South Waziristan and is regarded as one of “the most conservative and fiercest” of all Pukhtoon tribes. iqbal khattak
Bosco stix
16-05-2007, 06:19
Oh yes. Afghans are always to be trusted with regards to Pakistan:rolleyes:


Bro, a ummah divided is no good. Rethink what you are saying.
Aryavartha
26-05-2007, 13:34
Dunno how credible this website is....but it is making the claim that the officer was indeed shot by a a man in pak military/para

http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=263380
Gunman was in security detail

By Kevin Maurer
Staff writer

The gunman who killed an 82nd Airborne Division officer in Pakistan was a member of a Pakistani paramilitary unit that patrols the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the border with Afghanistan, according to military officials.

The May 14 ambush happened as 82nd paratroopers and Afghan officials were getting into a pickup that was to take them to a helicopter after a meeting in Teri Mangal, a small border town in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

The officers met to discuss recent fighting between Afghan and Pakistani forces and to synchronize operations on the border, sources said. Tensions have been running high between Afghanistan and Pakistan over controlling their 1,510-mile border and stemming the flow of Taliban and al-Qaida militants who stage attacks inside Afghanistan.

The gunman — standing about 10 feet away from the truck — started shooting with an AK-47, according to the 82nd brigade commander and other military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

He killed Maj. Larry Bauguess, the operations officer for the 4th Brigade Combat Team’s Special Troops Battalion. An Afghan soldier and a Pakistani soldier also were killed, and three other paratroopers were wounded before an 82nd soldier killed the gunman.

Pakistani Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad described the gunman as a “miscreant,” :rolleyes:a word usually used by Pakistani officials to describe Islamic militants, but military officials familiar with the incident said the gunman was wearing a Pakistan Frontier Corps uniform and was part of a security detail.

The Frontier Corps is a paramilitary force meant to help local law enforcement, patrol the border and run anti-smuggling operations. The units have been used increasingly in military operations against insurgents in the tribal area.

“The Frontier Corps has been a relatively weak and not well-resourced organization compared to the Army,” said Daniel Markey, a senior fellow for at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Markey is an expert on India, Pakistan and South Asia for the New York-based organization that is focused on American foreign policy.

Col. Martin Schweitzer, the commander of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, said the gunman acted alone.

“This was not sanctioned at any level by the Pakistani military,” Schweitzer said. “They had some hoodlums inside their organization.”

Possible revenge

The military officials said they have not uncovered a motive for the attack, but speculated that it could be revenge for a clash across the border the day before or for killing Taliban leader Mullah Dadullah in Afghanistan.

Dadullah, a senior Taliban commander, was killed earlier in the month. He was credited as the architect of the Taliban insurgency. His death is considered the Taliban’s biggest loss in the past six years.

The United States and Pakistan want to defuse the situation, but the incident does raise some red flags, Markey said.

The U.S. is about to pour billions of dollars of aid into the paramilitary unit.

“The hope is the Frontier Corps will be able to force the foreign fighters out of the tribal area,” Markey said. “This is a sign we have to be careful of how we assist the Frontier Corps.”

Pakistan has ordered a high-level inquiry into the shooting. Schweitzer said the Army’s investigation is almost complete. It is unclear when results of either investigation will be released.

Despite the ambush, military officials said the meetings between the Afghan and Pakistani officials along the border will continue.

“It comes down to trust. As they continue to communicate, the trust grows,” Schweitzer said. “They have a common enemy.”

Funny how you don't hear anything about this in the news...