FOREIGN SECRETARY CONDEMNATION OF RECENT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ISLAMABAD 002101

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/12/2018
TAGS: PGOV PINR PK PREL PTER
SUBJECT: FOREIGN SECRETARY CONDEMNATION OF RECENT
PAK/AFGHAN BORDER ATTACK

Classified By: Anne W. Patterson, Reasons 1.4 (b),(d)


1. (C) Summary: On the evening of June 11, Ambassador was
called by Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir to protest the U.S.
Coalition strike earlier that day, which reportedly killed
eleven Pakistan civil armed forces, injured eight, and
resulted in an undetermined number of missing personnel.
Bashir stated to the Ambassador, who was accompanied by the
DCM, that he was instructed by political leadership to call
in the Ambassador to protest the recent acts in strong terms.
The language used was particularly harsh, as it was noted
that the strike was "intentional and Pakistan forces were
deliberately targeted." He also described the political
impact the strike would have in Pakistan and called for
greater coordination and trust between the Pakistan and U.S.
regarding such events. End summary.


2. (C) On the evening of June 11, Pakistan Foreign Secretary
Salman Bashir requested an urgent meeting with the Ambassador
to protest the strike on a Pakistani border post by U.S.
Coalition Forces, resulting in eleven killed and eight
injured. Bashir explained that he had been instructed by his
political leadership to protest the U.S. Coalition bombing
strike in strong terms. He continued that the raid had a
devastating effect on Pakistan, particularly on the military
forces. Bashir then used inappropriately strong language,
stating that the civil armed forces had been "intentionally"
targeted with no coordination regarding the attack.


3. (C) The Ambassador immediately responded, expressing
official regrets for the loss of life that occurred. She
noted that there was clearly no intention to strike the
Pakistan forces and that the whole operation was coordinated
with the Pakistan liaison officer, located at the 101st
Headquarters at Bagram Air Force base. She went on to
explain that the U.S. troops had come under fire in
Afghanistan and the attack had been carried out to kill the
miscreants attacking the troops. Based on our information,
the operation had been coordinated. Ambassador then
reiterated the U.S. regrets of the loss of life, but that the
U.S. forces had acted in self-defense and assured Foreign
Secretary Bashir that there would be a full investigation
into the matter to determine what actually happened. She
recommended that this investigation be a joint Pakistan/U.S.
military venture as with other cross-border attacks in the
past. She fully endorsed the need for greater coordination
and explained that we had been frustrated in all other
attempts to expand coordination thus far. In fact, Pakistan
military authorities had informed us that the posting of six
Pakistan military officers at the Joint Border Coordination
Center in Torkham was being held up by the MFA.


4. (C) The Foreign Secretary again responded harshly,
referring to the attacks as deliberate and incredibly
damaging. In response to this reaction, the DCM stated that
such provocative language was inappropriate and served the
best interests of no one; it certainly had no place in
discussions between friends and allies. DCM went on to say
that our support for Pakistan and the civil armed forces as
allies is a matter of record and to describe any attack on
Pakistan forces as intentional was wrong and incredulous. He
noted that we have consistently sought greater cooperation
and coordination. It was not a question of trusting our
Pakistan allies but rather an inordinately slow and
frustrating process of implementing changes and procedures
that both sides agreed was needed. He further noted that it
was his experience that the problem laid with the details of
implementation rather than the will or trust of the parties.


5. (C) Bashir responded that he could ensure Ambassador that
the GOP and MFA had no objections to staffing the Joint
Border Coordination Center (BCC) and that he would convey
word to the Pakistan military immediately. He further stated
that he saw no problem with providing staffing for the BCCs,
which are to be created on the Afghanistan side. He did note
that, as the Foreign Secretary, he had political concerns
about any future BCC being constructed on the Pakistan side
given Pakistan's long-standing differences with Afghanistan
on accepting the current border as the internationally
recognized boundary. (Note. We believe this reflects "old

ISLAMABAD 00002101 002.4 OF 002


think" within the MFA rather than finalized or approved GOP
policy, and we will continue to follow up on this matter. End
Note.) The Foreign Secretary went on to passionately argue
the psychological impact such strikes have on the border
region and Pakistan as a whole. He emphatically told
Ambassador that she cannot underestimate the impact on the
psyche of the Pakistani people. Ambassador closed the
meeting by stressing the need to take concrete steps in
coordination of border security matters and requesting the
Foreign Secretary for recommendations for investigations into
the strike.


6. (C) Comment. While it is clear Bashir was under
instructions to call in Ambassador to protest the strike, it
appears the tone and language used represented more his own
personal views, as well as the mindset of the MFA, than the
measured approach we would expect to hear from the new
civilian political leadership. We note that both the Pakistan
People's Party Co-Chairman Zardari and new Foreign Minister
Qureshi are currently out of the country. While we have no
doubt the strike will add to their difficulties in providing
vocal public support for U.S. efforts regarding the war on
terror, we believe the political leadership would like to see
this event put behind them politically as soon as possible.
We will continue to stress the need for greater coordination
and information sharing for border security matters,
stressing that the only way to avoid such future incidents is
to act as partners and make joint decisions based on real
time intelligence provided by the border coordination
centers. End comment.
PATTERSON