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--- Begin Message --- -Caveat Lector- washingtonpost.com
U.S. Forces Kill 2 Pakistani Border Guards
'Unintended Engagement' Occurred
During Pursuit of Uniformed Attackers
By Bradley Graham, Washington Post Staff Writer
August 12, 2003
U.S. forces in Afghanistan mistakenly killed two Pakistani border guards and wounded a third yesterday while pursuing several other individuals who had shot at U.S. Special Operations troops, American and Pakistani officials said yesterday.
Pakistan lodged a strong protest with U.S. authorities over the incident, which a senior Pakistani official said resulted from U.S. forces confusing a Pakistani patrol for al Qaeda or Taliban fighters. "It was due to some misunderstanding," the unnamed official told the Reuters news service.
U.S. military authorities offered sketchy details about the incident, which Pakistan said took place at a border post in the tribal Waziristan region, 160 miles southwest of Islamabad, the capital. According to an account provided by a senior U.S. defense official, U.S. Special Operations forces on a morning patrol in the vicinity of Orgun in southeastern Afghanistan came under fire from a group of people, some of whom appeared to be in some kind of uniform while others were dressed in civilian garb.
Two AV-8 Harrier jets and two A-10 Warthog attack planes were called in to chase the enemy fighters, who were fleeing toward the Pakistani border, the official said. A Harrier dropped a 1,000-pound bomb and fired hundreds of 25mm rounds. The A-10s hit with rockets and shot 30mm rounds.
Another military official said that preliminary reports from the field indicate the gunfire from one of the planes caused the Pakistani casualties.
"The incident resulted in the unfortunate and unintended engagement of Pakistani security forces in the area," said a statement by the U.S. Central Command, which has responsibility for American military operations in the region. "The incident is currently under investigation."
It was the second reported inadvertent clash between U.S. and Pakistani forces in the border area in the past year, but the first case in which U.S. forces were said to have fired on Pakistani troops in error. On Dec. 29, a Pakistani border guard shot and wounded a U.S. soldier, prompting a U.S. F-16 jet fighter to drop a 500-pound bomb on a nearby site where the shooter had hidden. The shooter was subsequently taken into custody.
Conditions along the border are prone to confusion and fraught with tension, particularly in southeastern Afghanistan, where forces loyal to the ousted Taliban government and al Qaeda terrorist network have continued to stage attacks. Pakistani forces and Afghan soldiers, assisted by U.S. troops, patrol their own sides of the border, which runs along a remote tribal belt where remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda are reported to be hiding.
Militants appear able still to slip back and forth across the long and ill-defined border. Paktika province, where yesterday's incident occurred, is a parched and thinly populated area with scores of hidden trails through barren mountains. Not only does the rugged terrain favor the militants, but Pakistani forces have appeared unwilling or unable to control the fighters who have sought refuge in Pakistan's largely lawless tribal areas.
The Bush administration has relied heavily on Pakistan's assistance in patrolling the border, and U.S. officials have frequently complimented Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, for the support his troops have provided. But privately, U.S. officials also have continued to press the Pakistanis to step up patrols in the border areas, while at the same time recognizing that Islamic militancy remains a potent force in Pakistan, limiting Musharraf's ability to do more.
Yesterday's incident is likely to throw Washington on the defensive and complicate these delicate relations with Islamabad. It could well reignite controversy over whether U.S. forces can pursue enemy fighters into Pakistan. U.S. military authorities have maintained that Pakistan has agreed to allow such pursuit, but the Pakistan government has not publicly acknowledged such an agreement, let alone publicized the rules and procedures for any cross-border operation.
News of the mistaken U.S. attack overshadowed another major military development in Afghanistan yesterday: NATO took formal control of the multinational peace-keeping force in the country, stepping beyond the bounds of Europe for the first time in the alliance's 54-year history.
The handover ceremony took place at a heavily guarded high school auditorium in the Afghan capital, Kabul. NATO Deputy Secretary General Alessandro Minuto Rizzo called the new mission "a reflection of NATO's ongoing transformation and resolve to meet the security challenges of the 21st century."
� 2003 The Washington Post Company
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