You’d think this might make some headlines…
30 Rebels are dead inside Pakistan after US & Afghan troops struck a Taliban camp.
Pakistani army soldiers stand alert with weapons on a snow covered mountainous region of Alwara Mandei in North Waziristan along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, February 2007. US-led and Afghan troops struck Taliban posts inside Pakistan, which denied giving permission, as new clashes left more than 30 rebels dead and there were claims Sunday of civilian casualties.(AFP/File/Aamir Qureshi)
I see the civilian casualties was just reported by AFP. –This was not in the original report.
Look for mass protests!
** Ali Eteraz is reporting the story.
Is this the start of the Obama invasion?
Conflicting reports—
International News has more:
US-led forces and Afghan troops struck Taliban positions inside Pakistan in fresh clashes with the Islamic militia that left at least 19 local Taliban dead, security forces said on Sunday.
The US-led coalition said it received permission from Pakistan to attack across the border on Saturday, but this was denied by the chief military spokesman in Islamabad. Afghan and coalition forces used mortars and artillery fire to destroy insurgent attacking positions on both sides of the border after a military post in Afghanistan came under attack, the coalition said in a statement.
“The Pakistani military gave permission for the Afghan National Security Forces to fire on the targets located within Pakistan,” it said. Six insurgent positions were destroyed, three on each side of the border, and more than a dozen insurgents were killed.
A Pakistani military spokesman denied any permission was given. “There was no attack, no firing from our side of the border. And there was no permission asked by them or given by us,” ISPR spokesman Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said.
US military spokeswoman Captain Vanessa Bowman insisted to AFP however that “this was fully coordinated with Pakistan and agreed on.” “There is a very close working relationship (with Pakistan) to eliminate this kind of threat,” she said.
Aussie ABC News has more on the attacks.
And, the Pakistani Daily Times has more on the attack including this:
US President George W Bush expressed confidence in Pakistan’s efforts, but earlier this month refused to rule out unilateral US strikes on Pakistani soil if specific intelligence pinpointed top Al Qaeda leaders…
A village elder, Atta Mohammad, said that 18 people, including women and children, were killed when warplanes struck in the remote southern province of Helmand as a wedding was underway.
There was no way to independently confirm his claim. Afghan authorities said they had no information about the incident and the coalition denied there were civilian casualties.
It doesn’t matter. The Western media will run with it.
Now, we get to see how well the Pakistanis will take to a sprinkling of the Obama plan.
UPDATE: NATO accuses Taliban of “falsely reporting civilian casualties to discredit Afghan and international forces.”
Look for major protests later today.
