Karachi: Thousands protest against NATOs incursion

Pakistan

Karachi: Thousands protest against NATOs incursion

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A rally was held in Karachi against NATOs air strike in which 24 Pakistani soldiers were martyred.

27 November,2011 07:17 pm

Thousands gathered outside the American consulate in the city of Karachi on Sunday to protest against a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 Pakistani troops and is threatening a strategic alliance between the countries.According to sources, the angry crowd shouted Down with America. One young man climbed on the wall surrounding the heavily fortified compound and attached a Pakistani flag to barbed wire.The NATO attack was the latest perceived provocation by the United States, which infuriated Pakistans powerful military with a unilateral U.S. special forces raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in May.NATO helicopters and fighter jets based in Afghanistan attacked two Pakistan military outposts on Saturday, killing the soldiers in what Pakistan said was an unprovoked assault.America is attacking our borders. The government should immediately break ties with it, said Naseema Baluch, a housewife attending the Karachi demonstration.America wants to occupy our country but we will not let it do that. US and NATO officials are trying to defuse tensions but the soldiers deaths are testing a bad marriage of convenience between Washington and Islamabad.This was a tragic unintended incident, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement, adding that he fully supported a NATO investigation that was under way.We will determine what happened, and draw the right lessons.That is unlikely to cool tempers. Many Pakistanis believe their army is fighting a war against militants that only serves Western interests and hurts their country.U.S. stabs Pakistan in the back, again, said a headline in the Daily Times, reflecting fury over the attack in Pakistan, a regional power seen as critical to U.S. efforts to stabilise neighbouring Afghanistan. Pakistan on Sunday buried the troops killed in the attack.