US-Pakistan relationship further tested with Nato helicopter strike

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US-Pakistan relationship further tested with Nato helicopter strike

The fragile relationship between the US and Pakistan in the wake of the Osama

bin Laden raid suffered a further blow yesterday when two Nato helicopters

opened fire on a Pakistani checkpoint wounding two soldiers.

By Rob Crilly, Islamabad 4:20PM BST 17 May 2011

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The Pakistani military said it had demanded a " flag meeting " with Nato

commanders over the incursion in North Waziristan, near the Afghan border in an

area that has been repeatedly targeted by US drones as a hub of al-Qaeda

militants.

The statement said the two Nato helicopters – believed to be American – had

entered Pakistan at the Admi Kot border post.

" The troops at the post fired upon the helicopters and, as a result of the

exchange of fire, two of our soldiers received injuries, " it said.

It came only hours after Senator Kerry launched a charm offensive to mend

relations shattered by the secret US operation to kill bin Laden.

Pakistani leaders are furious they were not informed of the Navy Seal mission to

hunt down the al-Qaeda leader earlier this month, calling it an infringement of

sovereignty.

An official for the Nato-led force in Afghanistan said yesterday that it was

investigating the incident.

He said two helicopters supporting a forward operating base in eastern

Afghanistan had returned fire after being attacked from inside Pakistan, but

declined to say whether they fired from Afghan airspace or crossed the border.

Last year, Pakistan halted crucial Nato convoys travelling to Afghanistan for 10

days after a similar incursion killed two soldiers.

Following the bin Laden raid, Pakistani politicians passed a motion warning that

any repeat of unilateral measures would have " dire consequences for peace and

security in the region and the world " .

Talat Masood, a retired military officer and analyst, said the incursion may

have been accidental but it was causing a huge amount of anxiety among a public

already on edge about American raids.

" This sort of thing is very unhelpful, " he said. " It may be an isolated incident

but the very fact that it has happened right now means that it is being seen as

something more sinister. " Only a day earlier Senator Kerry had arrived to put

relations with Pakistan back on track.

" We recognise that the Pakistani people and their leaders take their sovereignty

very seriously. Every nation does, " said Mr Kerry, a hugely popular figure in

Pakistan for his role in delivering a $7.5bn aid package.

Washington needs Pakistan for its supply routes to troops in landlocked

Afghanistan. And, if President Obama's planned drawdown of troops is to be

successful, Pakistan has to play its part in securing the porous border and

ridding its tribal areas of militants.

In return Islamabad receives aid and help rooting out al-Qaeda groups such as

the Pakistan Taliban which have killed thousands of Pakistanis.

However, American Congressmen are demanding to know why the US should continue

sending $1.5bn a year of aid to a country that failed to find bin Laden and has

repeatedly been accused of sheltering terrorists.