Islamabad, Dec 28 (IANS) Pakistan Wednesday rejected as biased the US report on the NATO air strikes on two army border checkposts that caused the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers, a media report said.
The Nov 26 air strikes in Mohmand region bordering Afghanistan led to severe strain in the Pakistan-US relations.
The US investigation report was rejected on the basis that with Brigadier General Stephen Clark as head, the investigation could never bring out unbiased findings, the Online news agency reported.
Pakistan dismissed the report, saying Clark has been linked to the strategic team involved in the attack.
Clark was an ‘inappropriate’ choice to carry out the investigation as a neutral party, the media report said.
The Pentagon said an American official in Islamabad has delivered the report to Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani.
Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas confirmed receiving the report.
The full report from the joint US-NATO investigative team was not released publicly to allow time for the Pakistani leadership to read the findings first, the Pentagon spokesman said in Washington.
‘We wanted General Kayani to be able to see the entire thing,’ he said. It was ‘an appropriate professional courtesy’ to Kayani, he added.
An unclassified version of the report has been released by the military’s Central Command on its website. It reportedly revealed that an American AC-130 gunship flew two miles into Pakistani territory.
