Pakistan Releases Photos of NATO Attack (Video)
After a NATO cross-border air attack killed 24 Pakistani soldiers over the weekend, sparking demonstrations and resulting in a rift between U.S.-Pakistani relations, the country has released photos of the military posts that were damaged in what Pakistani officials believes was an intended attack by NATO forces.
The photos were released by the Pakistani military and show images of remote military outposts that were attacked by NATO helicopters and fighter jets this past weekend.
Pakistan has called the attack “blatant aggression” and relations between Pakistan and the U.S. have hit an unmatched low since the incident.
Pakistani cable operators have even gone so far as to block the BBC, CNN and other foreign news broadcasts over the incident.
General Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters news agency that “this was not a deliberate attack.”
“What in the world would be gain by attack a Pakistan border post?” Dempsey asked. “I can say, categorically, it was not a deliberate attack.”
Pakistani officials argue that it is impossible that NATO was unaware that the bases they struck were part of the Pakistan military posts because Pakistan gave NATO a map where the posts were clearly marked.
American commanders say that rockets were fired at American and Afghan forces across the boarder and also claim they got permission to go ahead with the attack by the Pakistani military.
Pakistan has responded to the incident by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO supply trucks, demanding that the U.S. vacate an air base used for drones and by choosing to boycott a conference in Bonn next week on Afghan stabilization.
The air strikes occurred in the early hours of the morning on Saturday and resulted in the largest single death toll of Pakistani soldiers since the war in Afghanistan began a decade ago.
Analysts are concerned that the new rift in relations between Pakistan and the U.S. could stall a negotiated peace in Afghanistan.
The U.S. and NATO have both launched investigations into the attacks.
Watch a video released after the attacks by clicking below.
