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Afghan winter: Pak-US skirmishes chill relations

Afghan winter: Pak-US skirmishes chill relations

Author:
Publication: The Times of India
Date: January 5, 2003
 
US officials have begun to grumble for the first time about the extent of Pakistan's cooperation in the war against Al Qaida and the Taliban along the Pak-Afghan border even as American and Pakistani forces exchanged heavy machine gun fire in a tribal area along the border on Friday.

"A year ago, Pakistan had the choice of either acting decisively against Al Qaida and Taliban elements or of doing the minimum. By now, it is clear that they have decided not to move strongly against them," a US diplomat in Kabul told The Washington Post.

General Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had recently said that he would seek to clarify the rules of engagement that apply to the pursuit of enemy guerrillas in certain situations.

The issue has become a pressing one as US soldiers have begun to patrol the Afghan-Pakistani border more aggressively, especially in the south-east, where many Al Qaida and Taliban fugitives remain active.

On December 21, Sgt. Steven Checo of the 82nd airborne division was shot and killed near the border by men who entered Afghanistan from Pakistan and then retreated across the border.

In the most recent incident, a US soldier was shot and wounded by a Pakistani border scout near the border, apparently on Afghan territory which Pakistani soldiers are not supposed to enter.

Friday's exchange of fire, the second such incident within a week, came even as Gen Pervez Musharraf held telephonic talks with his American counterpart George W Bush to defuse the tension arising out of last weekend's skirmish. Gen Musharraf also spoke to Secretary of State Colin Powell over the phone on Friday even as a US military spokeswoman at Bagram in Afghanistan, Capt Alayne Cramer, delivered a terse message to a Pakistani colonel, who formed part of a joint team, saying that "enough was enough" and that the US would not tolerate any firing from the Pakistani side.

Capt Cramer told the Pakistani colonel that the message was from "the very top". US central command chief Tommy Franks himself wanted it to be conveyed to Gen Aziz, the chairman of Pakistan's Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, the Pakistan daily Dawn said.

Meanwhile, another US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Maj Stephen Clutter, said, "We do reserve the right to go after them and pursue them and that is something Pakistan is aware of. In hot pursuit, we are going to chase down the bad guys."

Pakistani officials refuted the US warnings by saying that "Pakistan is not Afghanistan" and warned the Americans that "hot pursuit" across the border would provoke Pakistani firing and that the Americans would have to face the consequences of such misadventures. Pakistani officials also warned that the US-led anti-terror campaign would come to a grinding halt if Pakistan stopped cooperating.

While talking to Mr Powell, Gen Musharraf said there should not be a repetition of aerial bombing by US planes. Mr. Powell as sured him that utmost care would be taken in this regard by the allied forces in future, The Nation said.

Gen Franks is expected to hold a tele-conference with Gen Musharraf or Gen Aziz to discuss steps to reduce tensions.

The News quoted local officials as saying that a rocket launcher shell- fired from across the border fell into Pakistani territory near Angoor Adda early on Friday. The fire was returned, resulting in a heavy exchange of machine gun fire for more than an hour Details of loss to human lives or property, if any, were not immediately available. All communication links between Angoor Adda and the rest of Pakistan remained suspended on Friday.
 


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