Pakistan: Border Attack Report 'Short on Facts'

ISLAMABAD - The Pakistani military rejected the findings of the U.S. investigation into the NATO attacks on Pakistani border posts on the night of Nov. 25-26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Though no detailed rebuttal was made by the Pakistani military, Inter-Services Public Relations - the military's public relations arm - stated it did not agree with the U.S.'s findings and labeled them as being "short on facts."

Pakistan said a detailed response would be given when it received a formal report. No additional information from the military was forthcoming when contacted.

The U.S. Department of Defense said in a statement that the attacks were not intentional. The DoD found "inadequate coordination by U.S. and Pakistani military officers operating through the border coordination center - including our reliance on incorrect mapping information shared with the Pakistani liaison officer - resulted in a misunderstanding about the true location of Pakistani military units."

"This, coupled with other gaps in information about the activities and placement of units from both sides, contributed to the tragic result," the statement said.

The misidentification by the NATO forces of the Pakistani position rests on claims they were initially fired upon. However, the Pakistan military continues to deny that its troops opened fire first.

South Asia analyst and former Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, called the report into question because of how the investigation was carried out.

"How can you have a proper investigation when only one side is involved?" Cloughley said. He called the investigation a "farce" due to Pakistan not being consulted.

Coughley said he does not think the report will improve relations between Pakistan and International Security Assistance Forces under NATO's command, which the Nov. 25 incident further damaged.

"I don't think there is a hope of recovery," he said.

Pakistan Army Chief Rules Out Coup: Statement

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Kayani has ruled out a military takeover in the country, describing rumors about a coup amid a political scandal as "misleading," the military said Dec. 23.

GEN. ASHFAQ KAYANI said in a statement that "[the] Pakistan Army has and will continue to support the democratic process in the country." (Ishara S. Kodikara / AFP)

"He (Kayani) strongly dispelled the speculations of any military takeover and said that these are misleading and are being used as a bogey to divert the focus from the real issues," a military statement cited him as saying.

The general, who was addressing troops in the Mohmand and Kurram tribal regions near the Afghan border on Dec. 22, "reiterated that (the) Pakistan Army has and will continue to support the democratic process in the country," according to the statement.

The army chief's remarks were made public several hours after Pakistan's top judge Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also ruled out a military coup.

"Rest assured ... in this country there is no question of (military) takeover because the people trust the apex court now," said the chief justice while hearing petitions calling for an investigation into a memo scandal.

A panel headed by Chaudhry is deliberating whether to order a probe into allegations that a close aide of President Asif Ali Zardari wrote asking for U.S. help to prevent a feared coup and reign in the military's power in May.

The armed forces have carried out three coups in Pakistan and is considered the chief arbiter of power in the country of 174 million.

India's President Wants Improved Maritime Security

ABOARD THE INS SUBHADRA - India's president on Dec. 20 stressed the need to improve maritime security, as the energy-hungry nation grows and ramps up offshore oil and gas exploration activity.

Conducting only the 10th presidential fleet review since independence in 1947, Pratibha Patil said safeguarding India's coastal waters was "a major requirement for the social and economic well-being of our country."

"The oil exploration activities off our coasts and at sea are of significant economic importance," she said in an address on board this naval patrol ship.

"Therefore, the protection of our coast, our 'sea lines of communications' and the offshore development areas is a major pre-requisite of our nation's development."

The 77-year-old head of state, who is also supreme commander of India's armed forces, took the salute of sailors from 81 ships anchored within sight of Mumbai's landmark Gateway of India monument.

She also witnessed a ceremonial fly-over of fighter jets and helicopters.

Maritime security has been pushed up the homeland security agenda since 10 Pakistan-based Islamist militants hijacked an Indian fishing boat and forced it to sail to Mumbai in November 2008.

The gunmen slipped under Coast Guard and Naval radar before launching an audacious assault on landmark targets in the financial and entertainment hub, killing 166 and injuring more than 300.

Offshore oil and gas fields are becoming increasingly important, as India imports about 80 percent of its crude oil and has been frantically trying to find new, domestic fuel sources as the country's economy grows.

Major companies involved in exploration include India's largest private sector firm, Reliance Industries, which earlier this year signed a $7.2 billion deal with BP to tap reserves off India's east coast.

Pakistan blames “Afghan commander” for Nato attack: BBC

KARACHI: According to a BBC report, Pakistan’s military officials on Monday blamed an Afghan commander for the November 26 Nato strike on Salala check post in Mohmand agency, DawnNews reported.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported that the accused Afghan commander conspired on the instructions of Indian and Afghan intelligence to dismantle Pakistan’s ties with US and Nato.

According to the published report, Pakistani military officials were probing the incident on their own and also handed few details of the investigative report to their Nato counterparts across the border on Monday.

Pakistani officials demanded action against the accused Afghan National Army commander by Nato officials in Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s investigative report did not indicate involvement of any American officials in the attack.

According to the report Afghani troops, without any prior notice, were patrolling an area at Pak-Afghan border which required 72 hours prior notice to Pakistani forces.

The troops deployed at Salala check post opened fire on Afghan patrol team considering them militants and subsequently Nato air defence helicopters, came to afghan team’s rescue, attacked the Pakistani post.

According to Pakistan officials, Afghans knew exact location of the post hence calling Nato for help was a pre-planned scheme.

However the ISPR rebuffed the BBC report calling it inaccurate.

Pakistan Measures in U.S. Defense Bill 'Counterproductive'

ISLAMABAD - Measures to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in funds for Pakistan in the recently passed U.S. defense authorization bill for 2012 have been labeled counterproductive by regional experts.

The measures seek to withhold $700 million for Pakistan until Congress is convinced by the defense secretary that Islamabad is moving to combat the IEDs used to attack NATO/ISAF troops in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government and military have not released a response to the measures.

However, former Australian defense attaché to Islamabad, Brian Cloughley, said the measures were "petty and spiteful" and "put in place by politicians who are anxious to play the patriotism card to win votes."

He said the measures were also unworkable as one of the main concerns of U.S authorities was to restrict the flow of fertilizer from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Fertilizer from Pakistan is a main ingredient in the production of homemade explosives.

Cloughley said that fertilizer was desperately needed in Afghanistan because of the generally poor soil quality and, therefore, he believes the fertilizer would be imported regardless of what the U.S. Congress wants.

"There is no possible means of detecting it other than individual search of every truck moving through official border check posts, including, of course, via northern routes," Cloughley said.

Cloughley added: "Fertilizer doesn't come only from Pakistan. It, along with much other contraband, enters through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan; probably Iran, too."

He said Congress had also ignored the fact that "over 150,000 Pakistani troops have been committed to the western border, more than the U.S. and ISAF have in the whole of Afghanistan", and that "of the claimed 170,000 Afghan army troops supposed to be serving … only 3,000 to 4,000 [troops] are in the east of the country."

Even if Pakistan was able to stop the flow of fertilizer through the border crossings, Cloughley said smugglers would resort to more simple measures by loading it onto donkeys trained to make their own way across the border.

The withholding of finances is a keenly felt issue in Pakistan.

Analyst Haris Khan, of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank, said "Under the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (PCCF) aid, no money or funds have been released since June 2011."

The Pakistani government and military have been somewhat silent on the non-payment of funds, Khan said.

Kahn described the silence in terms of the continued non-reimbursement of payments Pakistan made for 28 embargoed F-16C/Ds under the Pressler Amendment in the 1990s. Pakistan initially continued to make payments for the embargoed aircraft despite it being unlikely they would be released.

He said Pakistan should take a more forceful and "businesslike" approach to the non-payment of funds for services rendered, and be more active in demanding payments.

Just what Pakistan can do in this regard is uncertain, as all movement of NATO supplies through Pakistan has already stopped due to the NATO/ISAF attacks on two border posts on the night of Nov. 25/ 26.

Pakistan may not have much leverage, but Cloughley said he believes the U.S. is also in a similar position.

While the measures sound very severe, Cloughley said, "the freeze will not affect Pakistan gravely."

Ultimately, Cloughley said the measures are counterproductive as the "only definite outcome" will be "increased distrust and hatred of the U.S. throughout Pakistan."

Iranian Cyber Commandos downed the American stealth Drone

A secret U.S. surveillance drone that went missing last week in western Afghanistan appears to have crashed in Iran, in what may be the first case of such an aircraft ending up in the hands of an adversary.

Iran’s news agencies asserted that the nation’s defense forces brought down the drone, which the Iranian reports said was an RQ-170 stealth aircraft. It is designed to penetrate enemy air defenses that could see and possibly shoot down less-sophisticated Predator and Reaper drones.

A stealthy RQ-170 drone played a critical role in surveilling the compound in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was hiding in the months before the raid in which he was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs in May.

U.S. officials acknowledged Sunday that a drone had been lost near the Iranian border.
 This is the second time in history a stealth tech/plane has been brought down (f-117 being the first). Possible first time ever one has been hacked into in the air, and the fact that it's still in pretty good shape makes it priceless as it now can be disected and reverse/engineered

The chinese and russians are probably dying to take a look at this intact american Toy...

Billions of dollars worth of state-of-the-art stealth/drone/aircraft technology is now under the microscope being examined/reverse engineered.

Allen: Pakistan talking again to NATO

KABUL, Afghanistan — Voicing cautious optimism, the top NATO commander in Afghanistan said Tuesday that he's seeing some signs of a possible lifting of Pakistan's communications blackout imposed on the U.S.-led coalition after NATO airstrikes killed two dozen Pakistani forces last month.

Marine Gen. John Allen revealed for the first time that he spoke on the phone Monday with Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani — their first conversation since the airstrikes — and that they both expressed a commitment to work through the incident and try to restore coordination between their forces along the border.

"I do have a sense of progress," Allen told reporters at a news briefing at his Camp Eggers headquarters in Kabul, describing the phone call as businesslike and cordial. "The conversation was clearly about attempting to resolve the issue ... around the border incident, in the sense that, lets restore border coordination so that we can move on."

He added that he believes Pakistan will soon send its liaison officers, who were pulled after the Nov. 26 incident, back to the border coordination centers and/or NATO headquarters in Kabul. Allen said the two did not discuss when Pakistan would reopen its border crossings to NATO convoys transporting supplies for troops in Afghanistan.

Allen's comments came as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan to talk with his commanders, including plans for an update on U.S. relations with Pakistan.

U.S. Vacates Air Base in Pakistan: Officials

QUETTA, Pakistan - The United States vacated a Pakistani airbase following a deadline given by Islamabad in the wake of anger over NATO air strikes last month that killed 24 soldiers, officials said Dec. 11.

A U.S. AIR Force plane carrying U.S. personnel and equipment prepare to take off from Pakistan's Shamsi airbase on Dec. 11. (Inter Services Public Relations via AFP)

Pakistan's military said in a statement that the last flight carrying U.S. personnel and equipment had left Shamsi airbase, in the southwestern province of Baluchistan, completing a process that began last week.

Islamabad's fragile alliance with the United States crashed to new lows in the wake of the Nov. 26 NATO air strikes that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and which the Pakistan military called a deliberate attack.

The base was widely believed to have been used in covert CIA drone attacks against the Taliban and al-Qaida commanders in northwest Pakistan's tribal areas, which border Afghanistan.

"The control of the base has been taken over by the Army," the statement said.

A senior security official requesting anonymity earlier told AFP: "The Americans have vacated the Shamsi air base and it has been handed over to the Pakistani security forces."

Another official in Baluchistan confirmed that the last batch of U.S. officials left in two flights on Dec. 11.

Following the November air strikes, Pakistan closed two border crossings to Afghanistan to U.S. and NATO supplies and gave American personnel until Dec. 11 to leave Shamsi airbase.

U.S. Ambassador to Islamabad Cameron Munter told a Pakistan television channel last week: "We are complying with the request."

A security official said the U.S. aircraft left the Pakistani airfield around 3:00 pm with the remaining group of 32 U.S. officials and material.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Dec. 4 expressed condolences to Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari for the soldier deaths and said the NATO airstrikes that killed them were not a "deliberate attack."

But the incident has rocked Washington's alliance with its counter terrorism ally Islamabad, though officials say neither country can afford a complete break in relations.

U.S. officials and intelligence analysts have said the covert drone war would not be affected by the closure of the base as Washington could fly Predator and Reaper drones out of air fields in neighboring Afghanistan. But the Shamsi air base was supposed to be particularly useful for flights hampered by poor weather conditions.

Islamabad has tacitly consented to the covert U.S. drone campaign, which many Pakistanis see as a violation of their country's sovereignty.

Nearly half of all cargo bound for NATO-led forces runs through Pakistan. Roughly 140,000 foreign troops, including about 97,000 Americans, rely on supplies from outside Afghanistan for the decade-long war effort.

Pakistan has shut off the border over previous incidents, partly to allay popular outrage, but the latest closure had entered a third week.

Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a U.S. investigation into the deadly November air strikes, and decided to boycott the Bonn Conference on the future of Afghanistan earlier this month.

Pakistan upgrades air defence system near Afghan border

Pakistan has upgraded its air defence system on the Afghan border to make it capable of shooting down aircraft, after Nato strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, a security official told AFP on Friday.

“Now we have a fully equipped air defence system on the Afghan border. It has the capability to trace and detect any aircraft,” the official in the northwestern city of Peshawar told AFP by telephone.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said the step had been taken to avert air incursions from Afghanistan and to respond to any future air strikes.
“The system has also been upgraded to immediately respond after detecting any aircraft or helicopter and to shoot it down,” he added.
Pakistan shut its border to Nato supply convoys on November 26, the same day as the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.
The government also ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base in the southwest, widely reported as a hub in the covert CIA drone war against the Taliban and al Qaeda in Pakistan’s border area with Afghanistan.

Iran's Boasts Over Drone Reveal Inconsistencies

TEHRAN - Iran's boast it downed a highly sophisticated U.S. drone has handed the Islamic republic a propaganda coup while revealing numerous inconsistencies in both Iranian and U.S. accounts of the incident.

A STILL IMAGE taken from the Iranian state-run Press TV shows what Iranian officials claim is the U.S. RQ-170 Sentinel drone that crashed in Iran on Dec. 4. (Ho / Press TV via AFP)

Leading Iranian newspapers on Dec. 10 gave front-page prominence to the story, displaying photos of what was said to be the remarkably intact RQ-170 Sentinel drone in Iran's possession.

One daily, Vatanemrooz, bragged that "Satan's eye has been gouged out," repeating the characterisation of the United States as the "Great Satan."

The ebullient media coverage, which began on Dec. 8 with state television images of the alleged drone, eclipsed other reports, including on the threat of more sanctions on Iran and the fallout from last month's storming of the British embassy in Tehran.

The deputy chief of Iran's armed forces, Brig. Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as warning that "the U.S. government will have to pay a high price for its unacceptable actions."

He added: "Our defensive actions will not be limited to our geographical borders."

Iran has sent a letter of protest to the United Nations, saying the drone's flight was part of months of "covert actions by the American government" against it.

It also summoned the Swiss ambassador, who handles U.S. interests in Iran in the absence of U.S.-Iran diplomatic relations, and the Afghan ambassador to lodge formal protests and demand explanations.

A letter given to the Afghan ambassador said that Iran's airspace had been violated from his country and stressed "Afghanistan's responsibilities as a good neighbor," IRNA reported.

Information given by Iranian and U.S. officials in their respective countries' media since Tehran announced Dec. 4 it had captured the drone has raised several inconsistencies over the affair.

The Iranian military's joint chiefs of staff initially said its air defenses managed to "shoot down" the drone as it "briefly violated" Iran's eastern airspace.

Yet Mohammad Khazaee, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, said in his letter of protest that the drone flew "deep inside" Iran, close to the eastern desert town of Tabas, according to Iranian media.

"After reaching the northern part of Tabas area - 150 miles deep inside Iranian territory - the aircraft was confronted by the timely response of the Islamic republic's armed forces," his letter read.

And Iranian military officials were now saying the drone - displaying little damage in state media images - had not been shot down as first asserted, but rather had its controls hacked by a Revolutionary Guards cyber warfare unit.

U.S. officials have also added to some of the mystery surrounding the incident.

Although none has spoken on the record, several told U.S. media anonymously the drone had been on a CIA mission over Iran - and not on a U.S. military flight over western Afghanistan, as the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force initially tried to suggest.

The officials were skeptical of Iran's claims that it had broken through encryption technology to seize control of the aircraft, hypothesizing that the drone suffered a malfunction.

But none was able to explain how the drone - programmed to either automatically return to its base in Afghanistan or possibly even self-destruct - was recovered by the Iranians.

US plays down new Pak air-defence system

WASHINGTON: US Department of Defence has said that the new air-defene system installed by Pakistan was of no consequence for America as it posed no danger to their forces deployed in Afghanistan, Geo News reported. A briefing by Pentagon also stressed that to avoid another Mohmand attack better coordination was the way to go not an air-defence system, adding such tactical decisions were Pakistan’s internal affairs. The briefing added that warmer Pakistan-US ties were in the broader interest of both strategic partners in war on terror. Pentagon officials also adamantly maintained that Nato’s attack in Mohmand was involuntary.

Pakistan Warns of 'Detrimental Response' to Attacks

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani warned Dec. 9 the U.S. and its NATO allies that any future cross-border attack would meet with a "detrimental response".

U.S.-Pakistani relations plunged to a new low last month after a cross-border NATO air strike which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Gilani made the comments while meeting army chief of staff Gen. Ashfaq Kayani, the prime minister's secretariat said in a statement.

"The democratic government would not allow similar attack on the country's sovereignty and any attempt in future will definitely meet the detrimental response," the statement quoted Gilani as saying.

Pakistani security officials earlier said they had upgraded the air defense system on the Afghan border to make it capable of shooting down aircraft.

Kayani informed the prime minister of the steps taken on the western boarders to revamp defense capabilities aimed at effectively countering any future incursion into Pakistani territory.

"The government and the people of Pakistan were ready to provide the armed forces all the necessary resources to bolster its defense and professional capabilities," Gilani said.

Pakistan shut its border to NATO supply convoys on Nov. 26, hours after the deadliest single cross-border attack of the 10-year war in Afghanistan.

The government also ordered the United States to leave the Shamsi air base in the southwest, widely reported to be a hub in the covert CIA drone war against the Taliban and al-Qaida in Pakistan's border area with Afghanistan.

The Nov. 26 attack brought the fragile Pakistani-U.S. alliance to a fresh low, already reeling from a covert American raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden near the Pakistani capital on May 2.

Afghanistan Needs Continuous Support After 2014: Karzai

BONN, Germany - According to President Hamid Karzai, Afghanistan will remain dependent on international assistance for the foreseeable future.

At the opening of the conference on Afghanistan here on Dec. 5, titled "From Transition to Transformation," he asked for further help from the international community for at least 10 years after 2014, when most foreign troops will leave.

More than 1,000 delegates, including U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, met in the former German capital to discuss Afghanistan's future.

"Three key issues will be on the agenda for Bonn: the civilian aspects of transition until 2014, the political process in Afghanistan as well as a long-term commitment to Afghanistan beyond 2014," a German foreign office spokesperson said.

According to Ban, progress has already been made since the invasion in 2001.

"Together, we have supported the return of 4.6 million Afghan refugees," Ban said: "We have enrolled 7.3 million more children in school and helped deliver better health care.

"As Afghanistan assumes full responsibility for its security, the government and its international partners must shift and intensify their focus on the non-military aspects of transition - on development, on governance and on extending effective civilian authority throughout Afghanistan," Ban said.

In addition to delegates from other states and organizations, Ban and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ensured their support. However, both asked the Afghan president and his government to more aggressively fight corruption and drug-trafficking, and demanded greater efforts to promote women rights and national reconciliation.

"We will tackle corruption more effectively," Karzai had promised the delegates earlier. He also announced reforms to government institutions and the civil service. Afghanistan does not want to be a burden on the international community any longer than necessary, he said.

During the conference, many nations and organizations, including the U.S., the European Union and the United Nations, vowed to continue supporting Afghanistan after the troop withdrawal.

"A stable and peaceful Afghanistan which does not pose a threat to the world is in the interest of all of us," German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said during his opening remarks.

Among the conference participants were about 60 foreign ministers, but there were no representatives of the Taliban or Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. The latter boycotted the meeting because of a U.S. airstrike near the Afghan border on Nov. 26 that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi used the meeting to demand the closure of all international military bases in Afghanistan and criticized the International Security Assistance Force.

Jo Nakano, Japanese vice minister of foreign affairs, announced that his country would host a ministerial conference on Afghanistan in Tokyo in July 2012.

"The conference will address, in addition to the coordination of international economic assistance through the transition period, Afghanistan's strategy for sustainable development including regional economic cooperation," he said.

Clinton Calls Pakistan PM Over Air Strike Deaths

WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Dec. 3 called Pakistan's prime minister to offer condolences over the deaths of 24 Pakistani troops killed in NATO air strikes, the State Department said.

In the call with Yousuf Raza Gilani, Clinton "reiterated America's respect for Pakistan's sovereignty and commitment to working together in pursuit of shared objectives on the basis of mutual interest and mutual respect," it said.

"She once again expressed condolences to the families of the soldiers and to the Pakistani people for the tragic and unintended loss of life," it said in a statement.

Following the strikes, Pakistan decided not to take part in this week's Bonn conference on the future of Afghanistan - a decision which, together with the Taliban's boycott, has cast the event's usefulness into doubt.

A statement from Gilani's office said he told Clinton that Pakistan's non-attendance was not open to review since it had already received the backing of parliament's national security committee.

The committee "has supported the decision of the cabinet not to participate in the Bonn Conference," the statement quoted Gilani as telling Clinton.

Meanwhile, he said, parliament was looking into the general issue of Pakistan's relationship with the United States.

"The parliament was seized of the matter of terms of cooperation with the U.S. This will ensure national ownership and clarity about the relationship," the statement quoted him as saying.

Islamabad has so far refused to take part in a U.S. investigation into the air strikes on the Afghan border which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers on Nov. 26.

The incident has exacerbated fears of a prolonged crisis in relations, after Pakistan also shut down NATO's vital supply line into Afghanistan and ordered American personnel to leave Shamsi air base. The base is widely understood to have been a hub for the covert CIA drone war on Taliban and Al-Qaeda commanders in Pakistan's troubled border areas with Afghanistan.

U.S.: Pakistan Not Cooperating in Air Strike Probe

WASHINGTON - Pakistan is refusing to take part in a U.S. military investigation of air strikes near the Afghan border that left 24 Pakistani soldiers dead, the Pentagon said Dec. 2.

Pakistan was invited to cooperate in the probe into the Nov. 26 incident, which has enraged Islamabad and plunged U.S.-Pakistani relations into crisis, but officials have declined to do so.

"They have elected to date not to participate, but we would welcome their participation," said Pentagon press secretary George Little.

U.S. officials expected a refusal given the fury in Pakistan following the incident, which led Islamabad to block NATO supply convoys on its border and boycott an international conference on Afghanistan in Bonn set for Dec. 2.

The United States has voiced regret over the strikes but has stopped short of issuing an apology while the American military conducts the investigation.

"It's safe to say that the incident has had a chilling effect on our relationship with the Pakistani military, no question about that," spokesman Capt. John Kirby told reporters.

"Both sides deem it to be as serious as it was."

U.S. commanders and intelligence chiefs have long sought to cultivate relations with Pakistan's army, the country's most powerful institution, but the air strikes have caused outrage among the army's junior officers and fed popular resentment of Washington.

The Pakistani army called the strikes a "deliberate act of aggression" but U.S. officials have declined to discuss publicly what transpired at two Pakistani border posts.

Kirby suggested the U.S. military would review its operations and tactics for forces stationed in eastern Afghanistan in the aftermath of the deadly strikes.

"Clearly, an incident like this causes you - and should cause you - to take a step back and look at how you're doing things and whether there need to be improvements made or any kind of tactical decisions ...(to) do things a little differently," Kirby said.

"And General (John) Allen is doing that," he said, referring to the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan.

Asked about reports that Pakistan's army has ordered troops to retaliate immediately if fired on, Kirby said that "every sovereign nation has the right of self-defense and the right to order their troops to defend themselves."

The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed officials, reported Dec. 2 that Pakistan approved the air strikes that killed their troops, unaware that its forces were in the area.

But at the Pentagon news conference, Kirby declined to confirm or deny the report.