NATO attack: Won't allow anyone to attack us, says Gilani; US asked to quit airbase

Islamabad: A day after 28 Pakistani soldiers were reportedly killed in firing by NATO helicopters and combat jets near a border check post, Islamabad is indulging in some tough posturing against the United States. In an unequivocal message to Washington expressing its anger over the strike, Pakistan Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has said, "We will not allow anybody to attack our country."

The stern warning came after Islamabad, within hours of the attack, shut down the US and NATO's vital supply routes into Afghanistan which is used for sending in nearly half of the alliance's land shipments.

This was immediately followed by Pakistan asking the United States to vacate a key airbase in the country within 15 days.

The flurry of developments marks a new low in the already-fragile relationship between the two nations. The unilateral strike by US Special Forces that killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad in May as also the Raymond Davis episode had already severely strained ties between the allies.

The latest attack, thus, immediately drew severe condemnation from the highest quarters in Pakistan which dubbed the strikes as "unacceptable, a grave infringement of Pakistan's sovereignty, violative of international law and a serious transgression of the oft conveyed red lines."

"Pakistan is facing many challenges. Today at two o'clock in the morning, there was an attack on Pakistan. An attack on Pakistan's solidarity and independence..."We will be like a rock solid wall. I discussed the matter with Chaudhry Nisar, Leader of the Opposition, and also with Imran Khan and have been talking to other Pakistani leaders. That's why our nation and country has become united for the defence of the country. We will not allow to anybody to attack our country", Mr Gilani said.

The Defence Committee of the Cabinet in Pakistan had yesterday asked US to vacate the Shamsi airbase, the remote desert outpost in southwest Pakistan, which is reportedly used as a hub for covert CIA drone strikes. Pakistan had previously told the United States to leave the airbase in June.

The committee had also decided that Islamabad would review its diplomatic, military and intelligence cooperation with the US and other NATO forces.

The meeting was attended by the three service chiefs, including army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.

Realising the enormity of the situation, the US immediately stepped in to soothe frayed tempers. In a significant damage-control exercise, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a joint statement on Saturday said, they had each spoken to their Pakistani counterparts to express their "deepest condolences for the loss of life". They also said that they "support fully NATO's intention to investigate immediately." (Read)

The White House statement also said the officials expressed "our desire to work together to determine what took place, and our commitment to the U.S.-Pakistan partnership which advances our shared interests, including fighting terrorism in the region." 

The US' concerns are not without reason. A prolonged closure of Pakistan's two Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies could cause serious problems for the coalition. The U.S., which is the largest member of the NATO force in Afghanistan, ships more than 30 percent of its non-lethal supplies through Pakistan. The coalition has alternative routes through Central Asia into northern Afghanistan, but they are costlier and less efficient.

Yesterday, a spokesman for the NATO forces, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson said, "The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is investigating an incident that occurred in the early hours of this morning on the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan...The ISAF leadership remains committed to improving security relations with Pakistan including the coordination of operations along border regions in our united fight against terrorism."

(With agency inputs)