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U.S.: Taliban was the target

ISLAMABAD: U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan disputed Pakistan’s version of an aerial attack in the frontier area that killed 11 security personnel and wounded 13 others.

The U.S. released a video to prove the aerial strike was in self-defence, and aimed at Taliban militants who were firing on coalition troops on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. A spokesman for the coalition forces said the attack was carried out in “coordination” with the Pakistan Army.

The attack angered Pakistan, which described it as “unprovoked” and called it an “act of aggression” against its sovereignty. The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and Army condemned the attack saying it would undermine cooperation with the coalition forces.

The Army said Tuesday’s attack in the Mohamand Tribal Agency was aimed at a check-post manned by the Mohamand Rifles, a unit of the Frontier Corps.

The Foreign Ministry summoned U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson to register protest. In a statement, the U.S. embassy expressed “regrets that actions in Mohmand Agency on June 10 resulted in the reported casualties among Pakistani forces, who are our partners in the fight against terrorism.”

But a statement from the coalition forces said its troops were attacked by militants during the course of an operation in Kunar Province. The unmanned drone’s video footage supported the American version. It showed a group of men, identified by a voice-over as “anti-Afghan militants,” firing from the top of a ridge.

Coalition forces are not seen in the video. The voice-over said the troops were on a reconnaissance mission when they came under fire from the militants.

The video, posted on the BBC website, showed the men moving back and forth between the ridge and positions that the voice-over said are inside Pakistan.

About a dozen bombs were dropped on the positions, killing all militants, the voice-over said.

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