Pakistan gives America two-week ultimatum to abandon 'secret' airbase and closes border: Hundreds of Afghan-bound supply trucks line up as tensions mount

Worst single incident since US and Pakistan became allies

U.S. is ordered to leave Pakistani airbase in 15 days

Supply trucks for U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan line up at closed border



Pakistan says raid is 'attack on its sovereignty'

24 Pakistani soldiers buried Sunday



Nearly 300 trucks carrying supplies to U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan clogged the Pakistani border crossings Sunday, leaving them vulnerable to militant attack a day after Islamabad closed the frontier in retaliation for coalition airstrikes that allegedly killed 24 Pakistani troops.

As Pakistan army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani attended the funerals of the victims, including a major, the U.S. sought to minimize the fallout from the crisis, which plunged Washington's already troubled relationship with Islamabad to an all-time low.

Pakistan also ordered the U.S. to vacate an airbase that is used by American drones to target al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the country's tribal region along the Afghan border.



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Stuck: Cargo trucks, including those carrying supplies to NATO forces in Afghanistan, are halted along the Pakistan border, after it was shut down

No passage: A Pakistani security personnel stands guard beside trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in Afghanistan that are parked at the Pakistan's border crossing Heavily guarded: The 24 Pakistani soldiers who were killed in the attacks are buried yesterday

There are forces working against a total rupture in the relationship.

Pakistan still relies on billions of dollars in American military and civilian aid, and the U.S. needs Islamabad's help to push Afghan insurgents to engage in peace talks.

But tensions could rise further if militants unleash attacks against the stranded trucks ferrying NATO supplies to Afghanistan.

The attack is the worst single incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington in the days immediately following the September 11 attacks on U.S. targets.

A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said he believed aircraft that had been called in to provide air support for ground troops was responsible for the Pakistani casualties, guardian.co.uk reports.

NATO has called the attack a 'tragic unintended incident.'

Laid to rest: Pakistan army soldiers carry coffins of Saturday's NATO attack victims in Peshawar, Pakistan Salute: Pakistan army soldiers march among the rows of coffins

Suspected militants destroyed around 150 trucks and injured drivers and police a year ago after Pakistan closed one of its Afghan border crossings to NATO supplies for about ten days in retaliation for a U.S. helicopter attack that accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers.

The situation could be more dire this time because Pakistan, outraged at the alleged NATO attack before dawn Saturday, has closed both its crossings.



Nearly 300 trucks carrying coalition supplies are now backed up at Torkham in the northwest Khyber tribal area and Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province. Last year, Pakistan only closed Torkham.



A Pakistani military statement immediately denied those claims, saying they were attacked first and had to respond 'with all available weapons.'

Pakistani officials say the troops at the outposts were sleeping at the time of the attacks.

John Allen, the US commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, issued a statement saying the incident had his 'highest personal attention.'

Burning: Pakistani protesters burn a US flag in response to against the NATO strike on Pakistan troops

Protest: Pakistani demonstrators shout slogans against America and NATO in Lahore, Pakistan on Saturday as tensions between the two nations increased

He said: 'My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured.'

The White House said on Saturday that senior US civilian and military officials have extended condolences to their Pakistani counterparts following the deaths, with the Obama administration pledged a full investigation into the attack.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a joint statement offered their 'deepest condolences' and said they 'support fully NATO's intention to investigate immediately.'

Keeping watch: Pakistani security officials stand guard near trucks carrying logistics supplies destined for NATO's forces in Afghanistan Saturday night

Hold it: Pakistani security personnel stop trucks carrying supplies for NATO forces in neighboring Afghanistan at the Takhtabeg check post in Khyber, Pakistan

Lining up: Nearly 300 trucks line up in the outskirts of Quetta after the Chaman border crossing was closed

US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter also met with Pakistani government officials in Islamabad.

The statement said: 'In their contacts, these US diplomatic and military leaders each stressed - in addition to their sympathies and a commitment to review the circumstances of the incident - the importance of the US-Pakistani partnership, which serves the mutual interests of our people.

'All these leaders pledged to remain in close contact with their Pakistani counterparts going forward as we work through this challenging time,' the statement concluded.

Full probe: The President and Hillary Rodham Clinton support 'NATO's intention to investigate immediately'

The unidentified officials also said they wanted to work with Pakistan to investigate the deaths, the Associated Press reports.

The airstrike dealt a huge blow to American efforts to rebuild its strained relationship with Pakistan.

The White House statement did not address Pakistan's decision to block supply routes for the war in Afghanistan or its demand that the US to vacate the base.



Supply trucks were stopped on their way into the country at the Takhtabeg check post in the tribal area of Khyber, Pakistan.

Talks: Pakistani senior cabinet members, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, left, met today in Islamabad today to discuss all arrangements with NATO and the U.S.

The two countries have found tensions rising since the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US special forces in a secret raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.



Pakistan called the raid, which took place in the early hours of Saturday morning, a flagrant violation of its sovereignty while the Foreign Office equally condemned the attack.

'Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has condemned in the strongest terms the NATO/ISAF attack on the Pakistani post,' ministry spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said in a statement.



'On his direction, the matter is being taken (up) by the foreign ministry in the strongest terms with NATO and the US'



Nato helicopter attack

The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, said he had offered his condolences to the family of any Pakistani soldiers who 'may have been killed or injured' during an 'incident' on the border.

A spokesman for the force declined further comment on the nature of the 'incident' and said an investigation was proceeding. It was not yet clear, he said, whether there had been deaths or injuries.

Two military officials said that up to 28 troops had been killed and 11 wounded in the attack on the Salala checkpoint, about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the Afghan border.

The attack took place around 2 a.m. (2100 GMT) in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants.

Pakistani soldiers on patrol today close to the area near the Afghan border where a Nato helicopter killed up to 28 troops

A senior Pakistani military officer said efforts were under way to bring the bodies of the slain soldiers to Ghalanai, the headquarters of Mohmand tribal region.

'The latest attack by NATO forces on our post will have serious repercussions as they without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep,' he said, requesting anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to the media.

About 40 Pakistani army troops were stationed at the outpost, military sources said. Two officers were reported among the dead.

NATO supply trucks and fuel tankers bound for Afghanistan were stopped at Jamrud town in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar hours after the raid, officials said.

Attack: Nato helicopters similar to this one opened fire on the checkpoint close to the border with Afghanistan killing 28 people, it was claimed

'We have halted the supplies and some 40 tankers and trucks have been returned from the check post in Jamrud,' Mutahir Zeb, a senior government official, told Reuters.

Another official said the supplies had been stopped for security reasons.

'There is possibility of attacks on NATO supplies passing through the volatile Khyber tribal region, therefore we sent them back towards Peshawar to remain safe,' he said.



'The latest attack by NATO forces will have serious repercussions'



The border crossing at Chaman in Baluchistan was also closed, Frontier Corps officials said.

Pakistan is a vital land route for 49 percent of NATO's supplies to its troops in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said.

Reflecting the confusion of war in an ill-defined border area, an Afghan border police official, Edrees Momand, said joint Afghan-NATO troops near the outpost Saturday morning had detained several militants.

'I am not aware of the casualties on the other side of the border but those we have detained aren't Afghan Taliban,' he said, implying they were Pakistani Taliban operating in Afghanistan.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan border is often poorly marked, and differs between maps by up to five miles in some places.

The incident occurred a day after U.S. General John Allen met Pakistani Army Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani to discuss border control and enhanced cooperation.

A similar incident on Sept 30, 2009, which killed two Pakistani troops, led to the closure of one of NATO's supply routes through Pakistan for 10 days.



Angry: Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani has condemned the attack

NATO apologised for that incident, which it said happened when NATO gunships mistook warning shots by the Pakistani forces for a militant attack.

The attack is expected to further worsen U.S.-Pakistan relations, already at one of their lowest points in history, following a tumultuous year that saw the bin Laden raid, the jailing of a CIA contractor, and U.S. accusations that Pakistan backed a militant attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul.

The United States has long suspected Pakistan of continuing to secretly support Taliban militant groups in a bid to secure influence in Afghanistan after most NATO troops leave in 2014. Saturday's incident will give Pakistan the argument that NATO is now attacking it directly.

'I think we should go to the United Nations Security Council against this,' said retired Brigadier Mahmood Shah, former chief of security in the tribal areas.



'So far, Pakistan is being blamed for all that is happening in Afghanistan, and Pakistan's point of view has not been shown in the international media.'



He called the attack unprovoked and said Pakistan should respond by shooting down NATO aircraft and keeping the supply lines closed.

'Those who say that Pakistan cannot afford a war with the U.S. and NATO, I think we should realize that U.S. and NATO also cannot afford a war with Pakistan.'



Other analysts, including Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, said Pakistan would protest and close the supply lines for some time, but that ultimately 'things will get back to normal.'



