Pakistan reserves its right to retaliate against any incursion into its territory, said Director General Inter Services Public Relations, Major General Athar Abbas while talking to Business Recorder here on Tuesday. When asked whether a fresh order was issued to Pakistani troops to open fire on US troops if they tried to launch another raid on its soil, he said that statement attributed to him by the foreign media was out of context.
"Our stance has been the same that we will not tolerate any incursion and our soldiers will go against the intruders," he clarified. Meanwhile, the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has arrived Pakistan to hold talks with the Army and the government high ups at a time when Pakistan and US relations are strained owing to recent violations of Pakistan areas bordering Afghanistan.
Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani took strong exception of the situation with a warning that Pakistan forces will not tolerate violations of its borders any longer and would retaliate in the same manners. Earlier, in the day foreign media has quoted DG ISPR saying that Pakistani force had been ordered to open fire on US troops if they launch another raid across the Afghan border.
To a question whether Pakistan would disallow the Nato force to pass through its territory on their way to Afghanistan, he said that he could not say anything on assumption, the response of Pakistan would be determined by the action of Nato force.
British Minister for Law and Justice Jack Straw during his meeting with the Prime Minister had also expressed the hope that Pakistan would continue to provide passage to Nato through its territory on their way to Afghanistan. On Monday, there were reports of nine US helicopters landing on the Afghan side of the border and US troops attempting to cross into South Waziristan.
Locals said US helicopter gun ships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed in the Afghan province of Paktika near the Zohba mountain range. The US troops from the Chinooks then tried to cross the border. As they did so, the paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air, which forced the US troops to retreat. Protests in Pakistan are growing in the wake of a September 3 incident in which helicopters ferried US commandos into Pakistan for a highly unusual ground attack on a militant stronghold. The government is stressing that Pakistan must resolve the dispute through diplomatic channels.