This video is called PROTEST AGAINST DRONES ATTACKS – Pakistan Students Movement.
From The Express Tribune in Pakistan today:
Nato investigating Pakistan cross-border attackKURRAM AGENCY: Nato said Thursday it was investigating claims by Pakistani security officials that three of their soldiers were killed in a cross-border attack by coalition helicopters based in Afghanistan.
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Nato helicopters strike security check post in Kurram
Three Pakistani security personnel have been killed and three have been injured in an attack by Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) helicopters on a checkpoint in Kurram Agency.
Reports coming out of the area say Nato targeted the checkpoint in Mandato Kandaho, which is about five kilometres inside Pakistan.
AFP quotes a senior security official as saying it was an unprovoked attack that took place early morning. He said Nato helicopters entered Pakistani airspace and targeted a paramilitary checkpost killing three soldiers and wounding three others.
This is the third time in a week that Nato helicopters have violated Pakistani airspace.
Islamabad has protested against the violations on two occasions. A protest against this recent attack is yet to be seen.
Earlier in 2008, an American jet bombed a Pakistani checkpoint in Mohmand Agency killing 11 Pakistani soldiers. The attack caused outrage across Pakistan.
Some comments by Pakistani readers there:
If the army or the government doesn’t take any steps now! We are completely sold out, might as well just let America invade us! Not like it already hasn’t!
Zain 3 hours ago
*If a comapny takes too much loan from bank and does not payback then bank officer runs that co.Same thing happens with country…
kamal 3 hours ago
*This is scary.. They have killed our security personnel.. why would they strike a check post.. this is not normal and is someone even taking notice of it ??
Beenish 3 hours ago
*They have killed our security personnel… and our government record our protest….is thy joking with pubilc….
Mazhar 3 hours ago
*It is a test of our Army. some non sense people invite army to take over the country but thats not army’s duty. Here comes his duty to safeguard Pakistan’s territory.They should do their job and make us proud by protecting Pakistan’s land not overtaking Government.We hope Kiani will play his role in stopping attacks because if we fail to stop them now then one day they will officially invade into Pakistan. Request to Kiani Please do not play any role in supreme court-Government matters just fulfill your real duty by protecting your motherland.Thats our demand and thats our constitution says….
We Love Army…….. we Love Pakistan………
Ghulam shabbir 3 hours ago
*Now Pakistan should have to burn every NATO supply truck.
Shaukat 2 hours ago
*Assalam-o-Allaikum Warahmatullah.Unfortunately our leaders now-a-days have been with each other like cats and dogs just to be in the government versus Supreme Court and their all attention is on their constitutional matters to find the ways that how corrupt and NRO certified President Zardari can be protected from presenting in Supreme Court and our leaders are showing extreme effrontery by only protesting on these attacks.If they have been unable to control these attacks then allow Pakistan Army to control these cruel and brutal attacks.Now showing only the protests time has gone and the time has come to take strong,stern and strict steps practically against these attacks instead of showing weakness and protesting.This is our leaders’ extreme meanness and shamefulness they are showing in this regard because their own security has been on priority basis than the nation’s security and the most importantly it has been confirmed that our leaders have introduced themselves as the slaves and beggars before the modern world and slaves and beggars are only for the obeying not for the ruling and when advanced nations shall give you aid in begging they also have right to kill your people whenever and wheresoever they will desire because our leaders have sold their and the whole nation’s grace,honor,dignity and self-respect against the Dollars and Euros in the hands of non-muslims and Allama Iqbal said for this occasion the most accurately “Baatil kay iqtadar mein taqwa ki aarzo, Kitna haseen faraib hai jo kha rahay hain hum” and “Apni millat pey qayas aqwam-e-maghrib sey na kar, khas hai tarkeeb mein qaum-e-Hashmi”
Ahmer Ali 1 hour ago
*Outrageous….and out of words again~
ADE 1 hour ago
*This is a slap on the face for Pakistan’s so-called international ‘cooperation.’ Army should stop all NATO supplies and consider carrying out a similiar response air strike.
Bunty 1 hour ago
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…What is the use of being the only Nuclear Islamic country if we cannot defend ourselves. They are deliberately killing our soldiers and civilians but our Govt. keep on lodging strong protests. Our Army should take some retaliatory measures to make NATO understand that we know how to defend ourselves. Being Muslims, we should not be afraid of anyone except ALLAH.
Chaudhry 47 minutes ago
The CIA is implicated in a court case in which it’s claimed it used an illegal, inaccurate software “hack” to direct secret assassination drones in central Asia: here.
Pakistan blocked a vital supply route for US-led troops in Afghanistan on Thursday in apparent retaliation for an alleged cross-border Nato helicopter strike that killed three Pakistani frontier troops: here.
US-PAKISTAN: Rise in Cross-Border Attacks Spurs Backlash: here. And here. And here.
Suspected militants in southern Pakistan have destroyed at least 27 tankers carrying fuel for Nato forces in Afghanistan, officials said: here.
More than two dozen trucks and oil tankers carrying supplies for the US military offensive against Kandahar in Afghanistan were destroyed in two separate attacks Friday in southern Pakistan: here.
Pakistan militants torch at least 15 more NATO fuel supply tankers, kill one driver: here.
The week-old standoff between Washington and Islamabad over US military attacks and the blocking of a vital NATO supply line underscores the growing threat that the nine-year-old war in Afghanistan is spiralling out of control: here.
Drone targets Pakistan again: At least four killed in latest strike in tribal area amid rift between Islamabad and Washington: here.
Top academics predicted on Thursday that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will land US taxpayers with a whopping $900 billion healthcare bill: here.
This CBS News interview with a US captain in Afghanistan really shows the futility of this war.
More private contractors than soldiers were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in recent months, the first time in history that corporate casualties have outweighed military losses on America’s battlefields: here.
Australian soldiers charged over civilian killings in Afghanistan: here.
Pakistan blocks war supply route to Afghanistan after NATO allegedly kills 3 border guards
DEB RIECHMANN, HUSSAIN AFZAL Associated Press Writers
5:38 a.m. EDT, September 30, 2010
PARACHINAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan blocked a vital supply route for U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Thursday in apparent retaliation for an alleged cross-border helicopter strike by the coalition that killed three Pakistani frontier troops.
The blockade appeared to be a major escalation in tensions between Pakistan and the United States.
A permanent stoppage of supply trucks would place massive strains on the relationship between the two countries and hurt the Afghan war effort. Even a short halt is a reminder of the leverage Pakistan has over the United States at a crucial time in the 9-year-old war.
By midmorning, a line of around 100 NATO vehicles was waiting to cross the border into Afghanistan, officials said.
“We will have to see whether we are allies or enemies,” Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik said of the border incident, without mentioning the blockade.
NATO said it was investigating Pakistani reports that coalition aircraft had mistakenly attacked its forces. The coalition has on at least one other occasion acknowledged mistakenly killing Pakistani security forces stationed close to the border.
Over the weekend, NATO helicopters fired on targets in Pakistan at least two times, killing several suspected insurgents they had pursued over the border from Afghanistan. Pakistan’s government protested the attacks, which came in a month during which there have been an unprecedented number of U.S. drone missile strikes in the northwest, inflaming already pervasive anti-American sentiment among Pakistanis.
The surge in attacks and apparent increased willingness by NATO to attack targets on the border, or just inside Pakistan, could be a sign the coalition is losing patience with Pakistan, which has long been accused of harboring militants in its lawless tribal regions.
Pakistani security officials said Thursday’s deadly airstrike took place on a checkpoint in the Upper Kurram region.
The dead men were from a paramilitary force tasked with safeguarding the border, the security officials said. Their bodies were taken to Parachinar, the region’s largest town, one official said. Three troops also were wounded.
Several hours later, officials reported another rocket strike by NATO helicopters about nine miles (15 kilometers) from the first one. There were no injuries.
The security officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation and because in some cases they were not authorized to release the information to the media.
The border between Pakistan and Afghanistan is unmarked. Border troops wear uniforms that resemble the traditional Pakistani dress of a long shirt and baggy trousers, which could make it hard to distinguish them from ordinary citizens or insurgents.
U.S. officials have complained in the past that Pakistani security forces do little to stop the movement of militants seeking to cross over into Afghanistan and attack foreign troops there.
Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for intelligence and special operations at NATO headquarters in Kabul, said coalition forces observed early Thursday what they believed were insurgents firing mortars at a coalition base in Dand Wa Patan district of Paktia, which is next to Upper Kurram.
“A coalition air weapons team called for fire support and engaged the insurgents,” he said. “The air weapons team reported that it did not cross into Pakistani air space and believed the insurgents were located on the Afghan side of the border.”
Dorrian said Pakistani military officials had informed the NATO military coalition that members of their border forces had been struck by coalition aircraft. He said the coalition was reviewing the reports to see if the operation in Paktia was related to those reports.
Hours after the incident, Pakistani authorities were ordered to stop NATO supply trucks from crossing into Afghanistan at the Torkham border post, a major entryway for NATO materials at the edge of the Khyber tribal region, two government officials said.
No reason was given, but earlier this week Pakistan threatened to stop providing protection to NATO convoys if the alliance’s helicopters attacked targets inside Pakistan again.
The other main route into Afghanistan in southeastern Pakistan had received no orders to stop NATO trucks from crossing, which they were doing as normal, said Syed Mohammed Agha, a spokesman for the Pashin Scouts border guards.
Some 80 percent of non-lethal supplies for foreign forces fighting in landlocked Afghanistan are transported over Pakistani soil after being unloaded at docks in Karachi, a port city in the south. While NATO and the United States have alternative supply routes, the Pakistani ones are the cheapest and most convenient.
In June 2008, a U.S. airstrike killed 11 Pakistani troops and frayed ties between the two nations. Pakistan said the soldiers died when U.S. aircraft bombed their border post in the Mohmand tribal region. U.S. officials said coalition aircraft dropped bombs during a clash with militants. They expressed regret over the deaths, but said the attack was justified.
Pakistan and the U.S. have a complicated, but vital, relationship, with distrust on both sides.
Polls show many Pakistanis regard the United States as an enemy, and conspiracy theories abound of U.S. troops wanting to attack Pakistan and take over its nuclear weapons. The Pakistani government has to balance its support for the U.S. war in Afghanistan — and its need for billions of dollars in American aid — with maintaining support from its own population.
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Riechmann reported from Kabul, Afghanistan. Associated Press writers Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Riaz Khan in Peshawar and Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman contributed to this report.
Copyright 2010 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
U.S. intensifies drone airstrikes in Pakistan
new york times | Posted: Tuesday, September 28, 2010 12:00 am
WASHINGTON • The CIA has drastically increased its bombing campaign in the mountains of Pakistan in recent weeks, U.S. officials said, strikes that are part of an effort by military and intelligence operatives to try to cripple the Taliban in a stronghold being used to plan attacks against U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
As part of its covert war in the region, the CIA has launched 20 attacks with armed drone aircraft in September, the most ever during a single month, and more than twice the number in a typical month. This expanded air campaign comes as top officials are racing to stem the rise of U.S. casualties before the comprehensive review by the administration of President Barack Obama of its Afghanistan strategy, set for December.
The strikes also reflect mounting frustration both in Afghanistan and the United States that Pakistan’s government has not been aggressive enough in dislodging militants from their bases in the country’s western mountains. In particular, the officials said, the Americans believe the Pakistanis are unlikely to launch military operations inside North Waziristan, a haven for Taliban and al-Qaida operatives that has long been used as a base for attacks against troops in Afghanistan.
Beyond the CIA drone strikes, the war in the region is escalating in other ways. In recent days, U.S. military helicopters have launched three airstrikes into Pakistan that military officials estimate killed more than 50 people suspected of being members of the militant group known as the Haqqani network, which is responsible for a spate of deadly attacks against U.S. troops. Pakistani officials have criticized the helicopter attacks, saying that NATO’s mandate in Afghanistan does not extend across the border into Pakistan.
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