NATO helicopters in eastern Afghanistan launched rare airstrikes into Pakistan, reportedly killing more than 50 militants after an outpost near the border came under attack from insurgents, officials said Monday.
International forces also pressed forward with a key combat phase in their drive to rout Taliban fighters around the southern city of Kandahar, an operation that is key to U.S. military strategy to turn around the 9-year war and prevent the Taliban from undermining the Afghan government.
The airstrikes into Pakistan came after the insurgents attacked a small Afghan security outpost near the border, and NATO justified the strikes based on "the right of self-defense," a spokesman said. Pakistan is sensitive about attacks on its territory, but U.S. officials have said they have an agreement that allows aircraft to cross a few miles (kilometers) into Pakistani airspace if they are in hot pursuit of a target.
The first strike took place Saturday after insurgents based in Pakistan attacked the outpost in Afghanistan's eastern province of Khost, which is located right across the border from Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area, said U.S. Capt. Ryan Donald, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
"The ISAF helicopters did cross into Pakistan territory to engage the insurgents," Donald said. "ISAF maintains the right to self-defense, and that's why they crossed the Pakistan border."
The strike killed 49 militants, said U.S. Maj. Michael Johnson, another ISAF spokesman.
Maybe if Pakistan had control of their own territory, we wouldn't have to kill their militants for them.
By: Brant
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