Omar Waraich: Fury at Deliberate NATO Attacks in Pakistan!

Pakistan has angrily rejected claims that its troops opened fire on Afghan and NATO forces before NATO airstrikes left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead on Saturday. In an escalation of tensions, the Pakistani army has said that the attack was deliberate and unprovoked. "There was no fire from this direction," said Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan military's chief spokesman. "If there was any fire, where are the casualties on their side? Afghan officials had claimed that the Pakistanis started the firing, forcing them to call for close NATO air support that led to a retaliatory strike. General Abbas claimed that the Pakistanis started the firing, forcing them to call for close NATO air support that led to a retaliatory strike. General Abbas also said that Pakistan had already given NATO the coordinates of two border posts that were attacked, 300 meters inside Pakistani territory, dismissing suggestions of a mistake. The border posts were established in the Mohmand tribal agency, after the Pakistani army pushed militants across the border into Afghanistan. Some 24 Pakistani soldiers and officers manned each of the posts. The NATO airstrike lasted for nearly two hours, and continued despite requests for it to be halted, a senior Pakistani military official said.