Pakistan/US

US claims air strike response to "hostile act"

Article published on the 2008-06-12 Latest update 2008-06-13 08:19 TU

Tribesmen sift through residential rubble after US air strike
(photo: Reuters)

The US-led coalition in Afghanistan released a video Thursday showing their precision air strikes targeting what they say are "anti-Afghan" forces after Pakistan accused the US of killing eleven of its soldiers. Washington confirmed the air strike saying it "regretted" the loss of life, but insisting that it was responding to a "hostile act."

The released video was taken by an unmanned drone. Someone speaking off-camera described the precision-guided bombs as hitting seven "anti-Afghan" militants.

Islamabad claimed Wednesday that US-led forces in Afghanistan attacked a checkpost in the Mohmand tribal zone, described as a "cowardly" military action.

The attack on Pakistan, one of the US's allies in the so-called "war on terror", puts a further strain on their relations. Both Afghanistan and the US have recently expressed concern with Pakistan's efforts to negotiate with Taliban militants.

This is the most recent fallout between the two countries as Pakistan has protested a number of missile strikes by the US-led forces in Afghanistan in recent months.

This strike comes just two days after a think-tank funded by the US Department of Defence issued a report saying membes of Pakistan's intelligence services and its paramilitary forces were supporting the Taliban.