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Obama says NATO airstrike tragic, ISAF and CENTCOM launch inquiry

Dunya News

President Obama has termed the loss of 24 Pakistani lives because of NATO airstrike as tragic.

The White House termed the death of 24 Pakistan soldiers in a NATO airstrike alongside the Pak-Afghan border in Mohmand agency as tragic while two separate inquiries have also been launched immediately.The White House spokesman, Jay Carney, briefing the reporters Monday, said President Barack Obamas reaction is that the event was a tragedy. We mourn those brave Pakistani service members who lost their lives and our sympathies go out to their families and go out to Pakistan. We take this matter very seriously.Carney said International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan as well as the US Central Command (CENTCOM) will launch a full-scale inquiry into the incident separately. We are keen to find out exactly what happened, he stated.On the relationship with Pakistan, he said: it is an important cooperative relationship but also very complicated.Its very much in Americas national security interest to maintain a cooperative relationship with Pakistan because we have shared interest in the fight against terrorism. So we will continue to work on that relationship, he stressed.Dont forget that Pakistan and Pakistani people have been primary victims of terrorism and terrorists. So we work with them and that cooperative relationship has borne fruit for the United States, for our national security interest, the White House spokesman recalled.The State Departments deputy spokesman, Mark Toner, on the other hand, said it is not the first time that this kind of miscommunication has taken place, although we have tried to address that previously.We will see during investigation what happened in this case and will try to fix that in future, he assured.He conceded that the US is concerned about impact of this incident on relations with Pakistan because such set-backs create serious challenges. Both countries have weathered such challenges previously and this cooperation has yielded tangible results in the ongoing war against terrorism, in which we share vital security interests, he argued.Toner declined to comment on the specifics of the tragic incident before completion of inquiry. We understand that NATO supply routes have been immediately cut-off besides other steps that have been taken in the aftermath of the airstrike, he said. He informed that Secretary Clinton and NATO secretary-general Andre Rasmussen had already talked to Pakistani officials and offered condolences. He, however, did not respond to a question as to why the US had not publicly condemned the incident as yet.On Pakistans reluctance to attend the forthcoming Bonn conference to discuss the future of Afghanistan, he said Pakistan has conveyed to us that its plans for attending Bonn conference are not definitive.It is important that Pakistan attends this conferences for the future and stability in Afghanistan, he urged, adding that, “there was no suggestion of postponing the Bonn conference at this stage.”Meanwhile, Pentagons press secretary George Little said that ISAF commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen had requested for a thorough investigation led by CENTCOM, but no timeline could be given for its completion. It is important to collect all the facts and investigation will look at all the factors in this case, he pointed out.He was reluctant to comment on the specifics of the incident and whether any disciplinary action had been taken against anybody after the airstrike. Joint investigation with Pakistan could be a possibility, but we have not heard such talk yet, he said while responding to a query.On reports regarding Pakistans demands to vacate Shamsi Airbase, he claimed that there were no US military personnel at Shamsi at this point. I cant tell the exact number of US military personnel in Pakistan or whether there is any demand to further reduce it, he said when probed further.He said that Pentagon was aware of blockade of NATO supply routes, and was working to develop a way ahead and move beyond this incident with Pakistan. We are looking at other supply routes too, because war efforts in Afghanistan against the enemy continues, he opined adding that it is an important relation with Pakistan and vital for peace and stability in the region,Offering no comments on reports that US airplanes crossed into Pakistani territory in the incident, he said that coordination does take place in border areas where ISAF operates but cant comment on what happened in this case.We remain committed to military relations with Pakistan despite the complicated past year, he vowed.- Contributed by Awais Saleem, Dunya News correspondent in Washington, DC
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