An attack on Pakistani troops

NATO's helicopter raid on a Pakistani checkpoint killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers and triggered an avalanche of public anger and suspicion against the U.S.

This was no accident, said the Peshawar Frontier Post in an editorial. NATO claims that its helicopter raid on a Pakistani checkpoint last week, which killed at least 24 Pakistani soldiers, was called in by Afghan and U.S. troops in Afghanistan who said they were under fire from the Pakistani side of the border. It’s a lie. “This was a naked aggression, plain and simple, deliberate and planned.” The site is clearly marked on NATO maps as a Pakistani base, yet U.S. forces battered it for more than an hour. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised. It’s not the first time, or the second, or even the third that U.S. forces have killed Pakistanis on our territory. And each time the Americans slaughter our people, our government meekly accepts their apology.

No more, said the Lahore Nation. It’s time for Pakistan to “refuse to continue an alliance with such a high cost in its soldiers’ blood.” Past retaliation for fatal attacks has always been temporary and perfunctory. Last year, for example, after NATO forces entered Pakistani territory and killed two security officials, we shut the supply routes to Afghanistan, but after the U.S. ambassador apologized, we relented and reopened them. Now, the military has again closed the supply routes, and ordered U.S. forces to withdraw from a Pakistani air base, but will these measures, too, be temporary? Pakistanis have had enough. It’s time to “end the alliance” and make it clear that “Pakistan will brook no further interference or foreign presence in the region.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us