United States-Pakistan skirmishes
Encyclopedia
The United States
and Pakistan
have been engaged in several cross-border
military confrontations and skirmishes along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. These incidents have involved the U.S. military
and NATO-led ISAF
forces, who have been present in Afghanistan fighting the War on Terror since 2001
, and the Pakistani Armed Forces. Most of the exchanges have been indirect friendly fire
s, usually started when American-led security forces have intruded into Pakistani territory or airspace
.
in 2001 and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and al-Qaeda
movement, the U.S. has launched several air strikes across into northwest Pakistan to target militants connected with the Afghanistan war who it alleges have fled the country and sought temporary shelter in Pakistan's bordering tribal areas
. These strikes have been protested by Pakistan, as a violation of national sovereignty
, and have resulted in tense diplomatic relations between the two countries. They have also caused an uproar among Pakistan's civilian population and politicians and have fueled anti-American sentiments. Since June 2004, the United States military has launched dozens of unmanned aerial vehicle
strikes against presumed Taliban targets, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. These drone strikes have been subject to heavy criticism from Pakistan, which maintains that they are not the best way to fight terror and that they will have the inevitable result of uniting the tribesmen along the border with Taliban and against the U.S. Pakistan has previously coordinated with the U.S. on missile strikes but the U.S. has since conducted strikes without informing Pakistani authorities. Pakistani troops were then ordered to counter act. Several specific actions developed, although no serious diplomatic spats on either side have been reported as of yet. The actions are listed below.
Pakistani troops fired warning shots into the air to deter U.S. troops from entering Pakistan. It occurred on the Afghan
side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border close to Angoor Ada
, some 30 kilometers from Wana
, the main town in South Waziristan
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
of Pakistan.
Seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border, in the Afghan province of Paktika, where US troops then tried to cross the border into Pakistan. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint began firing warning shots into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward. The firing reportedly lasted for several hours. Local tribesmen also evacuated their homes and took up defensive positions in the mountains after placing women and children out of harm's way.
The standoff occurred less than two weeks after the 3 September 2008 Angoor Ada raid
, during which U.S. Special Forces conducted a raid inside Pakistani territory. That incident caused much consternation and protests in Pakistan, with claims of Pakistan's sovereignty being violated.
On 21 September 2008 at 10 pm local time, in the Ghulam Khan
district of North Waziristan
Pakistani soldiers fired on two American helicopter gunships that entered Pakistani airspace with 12.7 mm heavy machine gun
s. The helicopters stopped and hovered for a while, before returning over the border to Afghanistan without retaliation. It is unknown if any of the helicopters sustained any damage in this first incident.
Thirty minutes later, two gunships attempted to cross the border again at the same place. Pakistani regular and Frontier Corps
troops fired warning shots into the air and away from the helicopters, causing the helicopters to turn back without attacking any targets in Pakistan.
reconnaissance helicopters. U.S. ground troops who the helicopters were supporting returned fire. No one was injured on either side and the helicopters were undamaged. American and NATO officials asserted that the helicopters were flying within Afghan territory to protect an armed patrol. Pakistani officials declared that the helicopters were inside Pakistani territory and were fired upon by "flares" as a warning.
troops manning the Mandata Kadaho border post fired warning shots, and the helicopters responded by firing two missiles that destroyed the post. Three soldiers were killed and another three wounded. Pakistan responded by closing a key NATO supply route for eleven days.
area. According to NATO, an American base along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border took direct and indirect fire from Pakistan. Two U.S. helicopters flew into the area. According to the Pakistani military, the helicopters had breached its airspace. Pakistani forces fired at a helicopter twice, and the helicopter returned fire, injuring two soldiers. Pakistan reportedly deployed two attack helicopters, which arrived after the U.S. helicopters had left.
by NATO Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship and fighter jets. There were a total of 40 soldiers present in the check post and the raid took place at night while most of them were sleeping or resting. The attack was the deadliest strike to date on Pakistani soil by NATO. Pakistan claimed that there was no militant activity along the Afghan border region when NATO conducted the attack. Pakistan immediately suspended all NATO supplies to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the attack. Pakistan later also ordered the U.S. to completely shut down operations and vacate the Shamsi Airfield
in Balochistan, which the U.S. reportedly uses for launching drone attacks in Pakistan
, within a time frame of 15 days.
The retired Brigadier Mahmood Shah, former chief of security in the tribal areas, said that so far the U.S. has blamed Pakistan for all that is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan's point of view has not been shown in the international media, so the matter should be taken up by the United Nations Security Council
. He has advised Pakistani authorities to shoot down NATO aircraft should a similar event take place in the future, and to keep the supply lines closed, on the argument that the U.S. cannot afford a war with Pakistan.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
have been engaged in several cross-border
Conflict of laws
Conflict of laws is a set of procedural rules that determines which legal system and which jurisdiction's applies to a given dispute...
military confrontations and skirmishes along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border. These incidents have involved the U.S. military
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
and NATO-led ISAF
International Security Assistance Force
The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...
forces, who have been present in Afghanistan fighting the War on Terror since 2001
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
, and the Pakistani Armed Forces. Most of the exchanges have been indirect friendly fire
Friendly fire
Friendly fire is inadvertent firing towards one's own or otherwise friendly forces while attempting to engage enemy forces, particularly where this results in injury or death. A death resulting from a negligent discharge is not considered friendly fire...
s, usually started when American-led security forces have intruded into Pakistani territory or airspace
Airspace
Airspace means the portion of the atmosphere controlled by a country above its territory, including its territorial waters or, more generally, any specific three-dimensional portion of the atmosphere....
.
Background
Since the beginning of the war on terrorWar on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
in 2001 and the subsequent U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to oust the Taliban and al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
movement, the U.S. has launched several air strikes across into northwest Pakistan to target militants connected with the Afghanistan war who it alleges have fled the country and sought temporary shelter in Pakistan's bordering tribal areas
Fata
The FATA or FC-ATA is a type of computer hard disk drive. FATA is simply the low cost ATA or SATA disk drive equipped with a small external converter, that changes the interface to Fibre Channel...
. These strikes have been protested by Pakistan, as a violation of national sovereignty
National sovereignty
National sovereignty is the doctrine that sovereignty belongs to and derives from the nation, an abstract entity normally linked to a physical territory and its past, present, and future citizens. It is an ideological concept or doctrine derived from liberal political theory...
, and have resulted in tense diplomatic relations between the two countries. They have also caused an uproar among Pakistan's civilian population and politicians and have fueled anti-American sentiments. Since June 2004, the United States military has launched dozens of unmanned aerial vehicle
Unmanned aerial vehicle
An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...
strikes against presumed Taliban targets, killing hundreds of militants and civilians. These drone strikes have been subject to heavy criticism from Pakistan, which maintains that they are not the best way to fight terror and that they will have the inevitable result of uniting the tribesmen along the border with Taliban and against the U.S. Pakistan has previously coordinated with the U.S. on missile strikes but the U.S. has since conducted strikes without informing Pakistani authorities. Pakistani troops were then ordered to counter act. Several specific actions developed, although no serious diplomatic spats on either side have been reported as of yet. The actions are listed below.
Standoff of September 15, 2008
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
side of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border close to Angoor Ada
Angoor Ada
Angoor Ada is a village and a border crossing straddling the South Waziristan Agency of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Afghanistan's Paktika Province...
, some 30 kilometers from Wana
Wana
Wana is the largest town of South Waziristan Agency in Pakistan's FATA . It is the summer headquarters for the Agency's administration, Tank located in neighbouring Tank District being the winter HQ-Colonial history:...
, the main town in South Waziristan
South Waziristan
South Waziristan is the southern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering some 11,585 km² . Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south, forming...
in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas
Federally Administered Tribal Areas
The Federally Administered Tribal Areas are a semi-autonomous tribal region in the northwest of Pakistan, lying between the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, and the neighboring country of Afghanistan. The FATA comprise seven Agencies and six FRs...
of Pakistan.
Seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border, in the Afghan province of Paktika, where US troops then tried to cross the border into Pakistan. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint began firing warning shots into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward. The firing reportedly lasted for several hours. Local tribesmen also evacuated their homes and took up defensive positions in the mountains after placing women and children out of harm's way.
The standoff occurred less than two weeks after the 3 September 2008 Angoor Ada raid
Angoor Ada raid
The Angoor Ada raid was a covert raid conducted by U.S. Army Special Forces against Taliban fighters on September 3, 2008, within the border town of Angoor Ada in South Waziristan. It was the first time U.S. troops fought a ground-based battle against the Taliban within Pakistani borders...
, during which U.S. Special Forces conducted a raid inside Pakistani territory. That incident caused much consternation and protests in Pakistan, with claims of Pakistan's sovereignty being violated.
Lowara Mandi incident
Ghulam Khan
Ghulam Khan is town in North Waziristan, FATA, Pakistan. Ghulam Khan is on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. It is the third most important border crossing point between Pakistan and Afghanistan, after Chaman and Torkham....
district of North Waziristan
North Waziristan
North Waziristan is the northern part of Waziristan, a mountainous region of northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan and covering . Waziristan comprises the area west and south-west of Peshawar between the Tochi river to the north and the Gomal river to the south, forming part of Pakistan's...
Pakistani soldiers fired on two American helicopter gunships that entered Pakistani airspace with 12.7 mm heavy machine gun
Heavy machine gun
The heavy machine gun or HMG is a larger class of machine gun generally recognized to refer to two separate stages of machine gun development. The term was originally used to refer to the early generation of machine guns which came into widespread use in World War I...
s. The helicopters stopped and hovered for a while, before returning over the border to Afghanistan without retaliation. It is unknown if any of the helicopters sustained any damage in this first incident.
Thirty minutes later, two gunships attempted to cross the border again at the same place. Pakistani regular and Frontier Corps
Frontier Corps
The Frontier Corps is a federally-controlled paramilitary force of Pakistan, recruited mostly from the tribal areas along the western borders and led by officers from the Pakistan Army...
troops fired warning shots into the air and away from the helicopters, causing the helicopters to turn back without attacking any targets in Pakistan.
Tanai incident
On 25 September 2008 Pakistani troops fired on two American OH-58 KiowaOH-58 Kiowa
The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine, single-rotor, military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. Bell Helicopter manufactured the OH-58 for the United States Army based on the 206A JetRanger helicopter. The OH-58 has been in continuous use by the U.S...
reconnaissance helicopters. U.S. ground troops who the helicopters were supporting returned fire. No one was injured on either side and the helicopters were undamaged. American and NATO officials asserted that the helicopters were flying within Afghan territory to protect an armed patrol. Pakistani officials declared that the helicopters were inside Pakistani territory and were fired upon by "flares" as a warning.
Kurram incident
On 30 September 2010. U.S. helicopters entered Pakistani airspace after ground troops determined that a mortar attack by militants in Pakistan was imminent, according to the Coalition. Pakistani Frontier CorpsFrontier Corps
The Frontier Corps is a federally-controlled paramilitary force of Pakistan, recruited mostly from the tribal areas along the western borders and led by officers from the Pakistan Army...
troops manning the Mandata Kadaho border post fired warning shots, and the helicopters responded by firing two missiles that destroyed the post. Three soldiers were killed and another three wounded. Pakistan responded by closing a key NATO supply route for eleven days.
Datta Khel incident
On May 17, 2011, a skirmish between a U.S. helicopter and Pakistani forces took place in the Datta KhelDatta Khel
Datta Khel is town in North Waziristan, FATA, Pakistan. Datta Khel is on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.On Sept 25, 2008, as an indication of escalating tensions between nations, Pakistani forces fired warning shots at the American aircraft after they crossed into Pakistan’s territory...
area. According to NATO, an American base along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border took direct and indirect fire from Pakistan. Two U.S. helicopters flew into the area. According to the Pakistani military, the helicopters had breached its airspace. Pakistani forces fired at a helicopter twice, and the helicopter returned fire, injuring two soldiers. Pakistan reportedly deployed two attack helicopters, which arrived after the U.S. helicopters had left.
Salala incident
On 26 November 2011, 28 Pakistani soldiers, including 2 officers, were killed and the remainder injured in an attack on two Pakistani border posts in Mohmand tribal regionMohmand Agency
The Mohmand Agency is a district in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan created in 1951. Before that, the Mohmand Tribes were administered by the Deputy Commissioner based in Peshawar, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. However it was not until 1973 that the headquarters of...
by NATO Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship and fighter jets. There were a total of 40 soldiers present in the check post and the raid took place at night while most of them were sleeping or resting. The attack was the deadliest strike to date on Pakistani soil by NATO. Pakistan claimed that there was no militant activity along the Afghan border region when NATO conducted the attack. Pakistan immediately suspended all NATO supplies to Afghanistan in the aftermath of the attack. Pakistan later also ordered the U.S. to completely shut down operations and vacate the Shamsi Airfield
Shamsi airfield
PAF Base Shamsi, also called Bandari is a Pakistan Air Force airbase located near Washki in the Balochistan province of Pakistan....
in Balochistan, which the U.S. reportedly uses for launching drone attacks in Pakistan
Drone attacks in Pakistan
The United States government, led by the Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division, has made a series of attacks on targets in northwest Pakistan since 2004 using drones . These attacks are part of the US' War on Terrorism campaign, seeking to defeat Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants...
, within a time frame of 15 days.
The retired Brigadier Mahmood Shah, former chief of security in the tribal areas, said that so far the U.S. has blamed Pakistan for all that is happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan's point of view has not been shown in the international media, so the matter should be taken up by the United Nations Security Council
United Nations Security Council
The United Nations Security Council is one of the principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security. Its powers, outlined in the United Nations Charter, include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of...
. He has advised Pakistani authorities to shoot down NATO aircraft should a similar event take place in the future, and to keep the supply lines closed, on the argument that the U.S. cannot afford a war with Pakistan.
See also
- Afghanistan–Pakistan skirmishes, a closely related series of military confrontations