An early morning Nato attack on Pakistan’s security forces has left at least 28 soldiers dead the Mohmand tribal region. In an immediate reaction to the attack, Pakistan blocked supplies to the allied forces based in Afghanistan. Additionally, Pakistan’s acting ambassador to the United States registered a protest against the attack with the US State Department.
The attack came a day after Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani met with Isaf Commander General John Allen to discuss “measures concerning coordination, communication and procedures between the Pakistan army, Isaf and the Afghan army, aimed at enhancing border control on both sides.”
This is not the first incident of its kind and while protests have been registered and voices raised, we are yet to see an official explanation into the incident.
How, in your opinion, should Pakistan deal with such attacks on its security forces inside its own territory?
Will the blockade on transportation of Nato supplies prompt a reaction from the allied forces in Afghanistan? Can this move, alone, be termed a strong response to the attack? What additional measures should the government take to ensure such attacks are not carried out in the future?
Dawn.com invites its readers to give their views and suggestions.
Where ever these Americans came to save the civilians as well as a country from the hands of terrorism , we can clearly see they always had hidden agendas. Look at the case of Iraq. US invaded Iraq by saying that they holding dangerous bio and chemical weapons.But, even years after of the attack they couldn’t find anything like that. The invasion was just for capturing Saddham Hussain and oil fields.
Same is the case of Libya,Vietnam etc. I think Pakistan too going to be a second Iraq or Libya unless the govt is not taking proper actions.
General pervaiz kayani was right decesion of stop Nato supplies, further 15 days time for vacant shamsi base, this was attacked pakistan sovernity, therefore no compromise……..
a) If this US action in fact happened as a result of some confusion, firing from the ground close to the posts, and any other such action, then it is time to sit with the Americans, make them apologise and work out a mechanism which will ensure such incidents dont occur in future. Additionally, Pakistan must withdraw completely from the US war in Afghanistan, and instead pursue a confident and independent policy, no matter what NATO and others do there. Given Afghanistan and Pakistan inter-dependability, the ball will ultimately come back to Pakistan
b) If this US action was intentional, then it is time for Pakistan to make a thorough analysis of its options. Pakistan must not respond with any overt strike. It must think of covert options – diplomatic, political, economic (even military) – which will hurt the Americans and teach them a lesson. It needs to analyse where it hurts the Americans the most. For instance, a strategic partnership with Iran and Russia would not be a bad idea. Some measured warmness to India must be explored too. Additionally, they must vacate Shamsi airbase and Pakistan withdraw “from war on terror”.
Also, if we look at the sub text of what the NATO and Americans are saying about the Pak-Afghan border, they, in utter nervousness, don’t realise that is what Pakistan has been saying all along – that Pashtuns cross over across because the border is not demarcated, it is a fluid situations out there in the mountains. Someone must remind them so.
Enough is enough our army should respond forcefully in case of any such future attacks. I have strong believe in Pakistan armed force’s capability as they are the soldiers of God. They can very well defend their country. Pakistan existence is tied up with our ISI and the Pakistan army. We as a nation should stand firm behind these two forces Inshallah with the will of God and we all together can foil the evil designs of our enemies. I will suggest that our border with Afghanistan should be equipped with SAM to retaliate such attacks in future.
After this all Pakistani soldiers on Afghan/Pak border posts should be given Helicopter gunships shooting down capability & any & all Helicopters/ killer-murder drones should be shot down. INDIA would not tolerate a single of it’s citizens killed by Foreign Forces…………..
These are deliberate attacks meant to test our patience and resolve. This is not the first time something like this has happened. The ‘allies’ keep pushing the envelope bit by bit to see how much we can withstand. They are trying to get us used to these attacks, whether they be at the hands of drones or nato choppers. It’s not long before a full scale excursion is launched by these ‘allies’ against our nation.
We must stop condemning these incidents and take a more stricter and aggressive stance against our so called allies.
We must befriend China, Iran & Russia.
We must ask for immediate expulsion of all foreign forces within our borders. An alliance with them is proving to be more harmful than beneficial.
How many more attacks on our sovereignty, our people and our nation will it take for those in power in our country to realize that we must start defending ourselves and not just talking about it.
yes, NATO thinks Pakistan is some banana republic or what?? Now is the time to make NATO realize what a nuclear power can do.
Just so it’s clear, I am not encouraging Pakistan display it’s nuclear might by any means. Only that Pakistan takes a stand against atrocities being committed against its people by implementing what many have already mentioned in these comments. Primarily seeking to rid our borders of foreign forces and declining/discontinuing any so called ‘aid’
We must do the Right thing. I feel that the people in power in Pakistan are capable enough of figuring this out on there own without the influence of foreign powers and influence of ‘aid’
Pakistan has to be part of the team investigating the incident…our leaders might be cheap but we do value the lives of our people and our soldiers
our army should be given complete orders to attack any force coming in our borders or infiltrating it. The sovereignty of the state is at high stakes! The Nato Supply route should be blocked and the soldiers responsible for the brutal killing should be given code red or whatever highest punishment according to there law. This blood of our Jawaan s should not go in vain. At a time when harsh words should be used our political negligence is at peak.
As a Pakistani, I think the following measures should have been taken:
1. Pakistan should ask the names of the USAF/ISAF/NATO forces personnel actually involved in the attacks, with in the next 24 hours.
2. A trial shuld be held for all those actually involved in the attack for WAR CRIMES in the International Military Courts (if not in Pakistan which would have been the case had Pakistan Army killed 24 NATO solidiers)
3. Pakistan should strike any DRONE seen flying in the Pakistani territory.
4. NATO supplies should actually be blocked.
I just wonder what would have happened if Pakistan Army would have killed 24 of NATO/US soldiers BY MISTAKE…..we would be attacked by now and lamented as ENEMIES all of a sudden….shame on our DEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT – ARMED FORCES CHIEFS & Politicians….!!
Pakistan Zindabad….Hamesha Paindabad…!!
I agree 110%. This is the right way to raise voice and let whole world what is happening and a fair trail.
Why we are crying now? We are bombed by pilotless plains every few days and same number of civilians die. Are we crying because this time soldiers died or is it because this time they sent piloted aircrafts to bomb inside Pakistani territory. Till the time army and govt do not speak out the truth for how much they have sold us this will continue to happen.
For me the only solution is that Pakistan should gain Economic Strength. It has to become an economic power to gain its status in the comity of Nations. It brings you the much needed Financial Power and many other leverages. This is the time for introspection and not for madness.
Pakistan has to concentrate inward in developing its own domestic economy. Pakistani military should understand this and should not come in its way. Military has to make way for other pillars of the nation to grow stronger like Economy and Polity. Militarily stronger but economically and politically weaker will not help you as a Nation.
Economic strength will automatically contribute to Military and Political strength. Its better late than never.
Let’s be honest Pakistani army is not capable of defending itself, Pakistani army is maintained on US aid, Do you really expect them to bite the hand that feeds them.
Heart felt condolences to all the families facing this tremendous loss.
Condemn war, stop taking US aid, relocate ALL Afghans with due respect to Afghanistan, relocate all US troops …to their own beautiful country (wonder why they even have to leave the place …there is so much in the US that they are missing out on! )
reinstate anti-corruption laws, make effort to follow tenets of Islam, develop tolerance for each other
and rebuild the country.
Shazia,
All good sensible points … except don’t mix islam with government/military. It will be a disastrous combination.
You should be the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
They already have a beautiful one as Foreign Minister and they can afford one for the PM too !
@jc nars: Thank you for partially agreeing with me. But I disagree to agree with you regarding religion. To understand Muslims, you have to understand their religious beliefs, whether at a personal level, national or international level. It is undeniably, a part of the fabric of life. Ignoring it, can only be misleading which is exactly opposite of what you suggested.
You do have a gender bias, don’t you ?
Well written.
Best thing would be wait till after the investigation is complete then go on from there. Maybe also better communication.
LIKE!!!!
Realize, accept, comprehend and fully embrace the fact that PAKISTAN is at war. A contemporary war in which we are involved, yet the world, including ourselves are not facing the fact, that we are! The irony!!!!
Wake up, please. No one favors war, but we need to defend our country, our people and every tiny bit of life species including our trees in Waziristan…
Lets not pretend to be ignorant of this ghost war.
Very true!!
This has come as no surprise to me that the NATO/US shot dead many Pakistani soldiers because if one read American newspapers leading up to this event, one common theme that emerges is that US ground troops strongly suspect Pak soldiers of the type they killed complicit in cross border attack on them or at least of looking the other way whilst the American troops come under attack in Afghanistan near Pakistan’s border. The one common source for all these news paper reports was ‘anonymous US official’
The question Pakistani troops and people should be asking of the military leadership i.e. Kayani and his comrades instead of venting anger at the US, is why did the troops who came under attack didn’t request air cover from the Pakistan air force? Was it because they weren’t issued with the appropriate communications gear or if they did request air cover, why was a timely air cover not provided to them. Was it because the air cover wasn’t available near the vicinity? If so, why did they put their troops in harms way? In my mind the only answer to all these questions is a complete incompetence/collective failure of the top military and civilian leadership in Pakistan. Pakistani’s should be angry at their military leaders for not being able to protect them and not venting anger at the Americans who have made no secret of their intention to violate Pakstan’s sovereignty every time they feel a need to do so.
Regarding closing down Shamsheer air base, I thought that closed down around May after the Osama incident. Top military leadership should be made to account forn the lies they peddle to the public whose sovereignty puts them in power. What a shame for Pakistan’s incompetent military leadership!!!!
The issue is that on one hand Pakistan is a partner with America and on other hand chooses different lines of action when finding this war against their strategic interest, which in result brining all such incidents. We can see America is suspicious of Pakistan, has shown concerns and issued warnings like Hillary did on her recent visit. This happens more frequently since Bin Laden found on Pakistan land. The recent attack seems like a deliberate attempt to teach a lesson to Pakistan. It is time to decide if Pakistan can fulfill all the commitments on this partnership instead of blowing hot and cold air at the same time. Turkey after 9/11 refused to facilitates NATO in exchange of huge dollars, why not Pakistan follows the same path?
I think the its time WE (pakistanis themselves) consider our soldiers blood as important as our own family members. We certainly havent been doing it yet. one NATO member gets killed and the whole world breaks apart, and 28 pakistani soldiers get killed (not the first time) and all we hear are some useless condolences. To top it all, ‘angry’ US congressmen are asking the US government to rethink its stance towards Pakistan including alliance and aid. are we THAT SENSELESS? We have the means to defend our country and soldiers from foreign forces. I say we “USE” those means by defending our borders and send a clear signal that pakistani blood is not cheaper than NATO blood.
May god grant the martyred the brave soldiers of the land a place in Jannat. AMEEN.
There should be million people march to the Afghan border to condemn the killings as well as to build a monument in the memory of all the innocent victims of the war.
Further more It should be made mandatory for every visiting american official to pay respect at the memorial before they arrive in Islamabad!!!
This is not the first time it happened. Obviously, it won’t be the last time if we keep doing what we did in past. Which, basically, is nothing. Just shutting down the Nato supplies for a few days does not do anything to deter Nato or Americans. It just assuages the feelings of the people whose rage ebbs within a matter of days. The establishment in general and military in particular are only guns for hire. This no longer is a professional army. Musharraf destroyed army as an institution along with all the other civilian institutions. Army is good only for business, spying on their own countrymen, selling their own people to foreign powers, losing ground to enemy, getting sound beating even on the negotiating table with foreign powers, and getting rich by plundering their own country.
I am chuckling reading some comments here where some excited folks have enumerated the belligerent steps we should take to avert or prevent such incidents in the future. Rest assured, nothing is going to happen. As soon as the rage of people subsides, army would be back to its shady business of helping the ‘war on terror’ and in return for such invaluable services terror and aggression would be kept unleashed at the public in the form of drone attacks, ground/air assaults by our so-called friends, and bomb blasts/suicide attacks by our so-called enemies.
look to iran, you will get answer ,
Finally, Imran Khan piped up the courage to name Haqqani before a crowd of millions come to hear him at Lahore on October 30
Vast majority of the comments show our lack of critical thinking…. As long as we don’t stop people within borders to conduct acts of war or terrorism beyond our borders, this not going to stop. We have had ten years to do it. The world is losing its patience… If we want to start a war with NATO, we will do it at our own peril
Excellent – in fact, the only sane and insightful comment. Could not agree more!
somebody tell me, why we have been comdeming drone attacks when we ourselves have given them the land to operate? I think this heated discussion about NATO killing our soldiers is gona be the main issue for our drawing room discussions and media for another week and then everything gona be just fine like it has been for so many years. we just love to talk and need something to talk about.
The real tragedy is not that they bombed us. Real tragedy is that we don’t have leaders who can unite the nation, stand up to Americans and grab this opportunity to get out of this war. We don’t need to take rash steps. Permanent blockage of the supply route, freeze on intelligence sharing / military cooperation, and their eviction from bases like Shamsi is good enough to suffocate their war effort in Afghanistan.
Pakistan has always been a weak and undecisive country since its existence whether it is politically motivated matter or country’s defence issue. A revolution is crucial to wipe out those who sells the country’s interest and sovereignty.
I have to say a lot but a word is enough to wise.