PAKISTAN OFFICIALLY PROTESTS JANUARY 22 ISAF

S E C R E T ISLAMABAD 000430 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/14/2017 TAGS: AF MOPS PK PNAT PREL SUBJECT: PAKISTAN OFFICIALLY PROTESTS JANUARY 22 ISAF BOMBING THAT KILLED PAK FRONTIER CORPS TROOP Classified By: Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (S) Summary: On January 23, the Foreign Ministry convened the Ambassador to protest the January 22 death of a Frontier Corps soldier and the wounding of two others during the bombing of a militant target in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border. The Ambassador expressed regret for the loss of life and stressed that the event highlighted the need for the U.S. and Pakistan to improve tactical-level communications, since Forward Operating Base Bermel was unable to reach the Pakistan border post by radio prior to the incident. The Ambassador and the Foreign Ministry agreed that a joint investigation of the event was important. The Government of Pakistan was working to tamp down potential negative reactions to the incident. End Summary. ¶2. (C) On January 23, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Additional Secretary (Americas) Shahid Kamal convened Ambassador to protest the January 22 deployment of a JDAM bomb that, according to Pakistan, killed a Frontier Corps soldier from the Shawal Rifles and injured two others. Kamal reported that the Government of Pakistan had already protested to ISAF and to Office of Defense Representative - Pakistan. Kamal noted that the situation in the Tribal Areas was "hot" and that incidents such as this caused public resentment that could harm cooperation between Pakistan and the U.S. He cited the Pakistan Senate's emotional discussion of the bombing on January 23 as an example of how the incident might play in parts of Pakistan. ¶3. (S) Noting that the investigation was just getting underway, the Ambassador expressed deep regret for the loss of the soldier's life and sent his sympathies to the family of the deceased and wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured soldiers. The Ambassador then recounted his understanding of the incident: the afternoon of January 22, militants attacked Forward Operating Base Bermel. As the attackers fled toward the Pakistan border, a fixed wing U.S. aircraft engaged them. U.S. bombs detonated on the Afghan side of the border, where the militants were located at the time of engagement. A Pakistan border post was nearby; the explosion may have killed a soldier present at the post. ¶4. (S) The Ambassador assured Kamal that the U.S. understood the incident's potential impact on Pakistani public opinion and said the two sides must work to ensure that such an event did not occur again. Our militaries needed to develop better ways to communicate at the tactical level; FOB Bermel had attempted to raise Pakistani counterparts by radio, but had received no reply. The U.S. and Pakistan needed to develop better ways to deal with their common enemy, stressed the Ambassador. Militant activity along the border was increasing, and the enemy wanted to encourage incidents like this one in order to cause injury to our relationship. The Ambassador reminded Kamal that the U.S. had presented proposals to Pakistan to improve tactical communications; we must move forward on those proposals. ¶5. (C) The Government was keen to tamp down negative repercussions, stressed Kamal, and the Government's press releases were stressing that the incident had been a mistake. Kamal understood that Pakistan and the U.S. would investigate the event together, and he hoped that ISAF and the U.S. would also carry out an internal investigation to prevent such an incident from occurring again. The Ambassador said an investigation had already begun. He thanked the Government for its work tamping down negative reaction and said it was unthinkable that there was any mal-intent on the U.S. part in the incident. The two governments needed to work together to make that point. CROCKER