Signaling a deepening of the rift with the United States and voicing Islamabad’s anger over the attacks, the government issued a statement late Thursday voicing Pakistan’s “strong concern” about the attack.
Pakistan’s military had initially said the assault was the work of about 200 militants, but the government statement put the number at between 300 and 400. It said the fighters “attacked villages and burned schools.” The militant attack and Pakistan’s reaction contradicted the US narrative about the poorly defined and porous border. Typically, militant cross-frontier movements originate in Pakistan, leaving the United States and NATO to gripe at Islamabad over its failure to stop the infiltration.
The new battles found Pakistan the aggrieved party, lending credence to Pakistani army commanders’ complaints that NATO was failing to crackdown on militants sheltering on the Afghan side of the rugged frontier."
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