US officials consulted with Pakistani officials before an airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers and the Pakistanis gave the go-ahead for the attack, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The officials at a border coordination centre were unaware that their troops were in the area Saturday near the Afghan border, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed US officials familiar with initial investigations into the helicopter strike, DPA reported.
An Afghan-US troop contingent hunting militants near the border came under fire from what they believed to be militants but the gunfire was actually from Pakistani troops, the officials told the Journal.
Permission for an airstrike was sought from a border coordination centre manned by Pakistani, Afghan and US officials, one official was quoted as saying. The Pakistani officials had not been informed Pakistani soldiers were in the area and gave the green light to the two helicopter strikes in the Mohmand Agency, one of Pakistan's seven tribal districts, the official told the Journal, citing information gathered from preliminary investigations.
...