I didn't remember that Germans sent in their helicopter gunships. Don't think Bo-105 is even qualified operate at that environment.
Last time I checked the NATO ROE does not allow this kind of thing to happen. Who gave the order to blast Pakistani soldiers? There are 25 KIA, which means that there was very serious explosion or equipment destruction. Messing with insurgents is one thing, messing with military who has nukes is another.

Bound to happen. The situation on the ground is a MESS.

 

H.

Things are unravelling I think - the NATO line is that they came under fire while in Afghan territory - who knows what the truth is.

 

It could have been a few disgruntled troops firing pot shots from an AA weapon, it's happened before and the response has to be to defend airborne assets. Not good news.

 

R 

Is this really surprising? Nato and Pakistan are competitors for influence in Afghanistan.

 

Obama has projected political weakness by setting a time limit.

 

All the pro-Taliban Paks need is a little push such as an excuse to shut down the flow of NATO supplies which in turn could be "justified" by an "incident" such as this.

 

Was this a setup?

 

 

The sort of effete self-hatred the West has for itself must stop. Pakistani aggression is open and rancorous, and when their troops open fire on Western forces they should be destroyed.
The media cannot be won if arguments are not made to justify, not excuse, such incidents.
 

The sort of effete self-hatred the West has for itself must stop. Pakistani aggression is open and rancorous, and when their troops open fire on Western forces they should be destroyed.
The media cannot be won if arguments are not made to justify, not excuse, such incidents.
 

 

I believe that I meant the above to question whether this was a pure accident or whether elements inside the Pak military/intelligence establishment somehow instigated (i.e. a setup) this incident in order to make justifiable some progress on the road to eventually pushing NATO out of Afghanistan.

This is about the most that I know about this incident -

LexisNexis:U.S.-Pakistani Relations Worsen

 

"SCALES: Saturday morning about midnight, a Pakistani outpost saw movement, fired a flare, and opened up with machine gun and mortar fire. It happened it was a U.S.-Afghan patrol. The U.S. side came under fire, called the Pakistani clearance channel to make sure there were no Pakistanis on that position. The Pakistanis said it was clear.

 

And one of the things I asked my source is how come so many Pakistanis died? The answer is that the firepower source that responded was an AC 130 gun ship, and as you know from your time there, that's the most lethal form of fire support we have in Afghanistan. Beginning at about 2:00 in the morning to half-hour the gun ship raked those two positions --"

 

 

Investigation Into The Incident In The Vicinity Of The Salala Check Point On The Night Of 25-26 Nov 2011

A report by: Brig Gen Stephen A Clark, USAF USCENTCOM Investigating Officer

Report...