London, Dec 4 (IANS) US officials gave the wrong coordinates — saying they were of a Taliban hideout — to their Pakistani counterparts to seek clearance for the air strike on border posts that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, the Sunday Telegraph reported.
An unnamed Pakistani military officer told the newspaper that a border coordination unit was established to avoid ‘exactly this sort of tragedy’, but it was given incorrect details of a suspected Taliban position.
‘The strike had begun before we realised the target was a border post. The Americans say we gave them clearance but they gave us the wrong information,’ he said.
The American officers have not disputed the Pakistani account of what went wrong, the daily said.
The US pilots ‘had been confident in their targets’ as they flew out into the night, towards a mountain ridge along the border with Pakistan.
Afghan and US commandos looking for Taliban camps inside the Afghan border called in air support after they reportedly came under fire from the Pakistani border.
The coordinates were reportedly checked with a Pakistani officer to ensure there were no friendly troops in the area, and the Apache attack helicopters and lone AC-130 gunship were given the go-ahead to strike.
But the mistake was realised when dawn arrived.
NATO and US officials have expressed regret but have refused to apologise until an investigation is completed.
