Pakistan decries 'cowardly' US raid

Pakistan is accusing US-led forces in Afghanistan for an "unprovoked and cowardly" air raid near the border that killed at least 11 Pakistani soldiers and nine civilians. An army statement says the clash on June 10 in the Mohmand tribal region "had hit at the very basis of cooperation" between the two countries in the so-called "war on terror." The statement says a strong protest has been lodged by the Pakistan army, which reserved "the right to protect our citizens and soldiers against aggression." The clash broke out after Pakistani forces reportedly tried to stop security forces from Afghanistan setting up a mountaintop post. A military official says the Frontier Corps troops, including one officer, in Mohmand were killed in the exchange of fire and airstrike. A second military official says the airstrike was from a drone launched from Afghanistan. According to BBC, the spokesman for the coalition forces confirmed the attack saying the firing was initiated from the other side of the border to which the coalition forces retaliated. He said that no one died on the Afghan side of the border and he was not aware about the casualties on the Pakistan side. The US military said the following day that the air and artillery assault was aimed at Taliban fighters and had been coordinated with Islamabad. "Coalition forces informed the Pakistan army that they were being engaged by anti-Afghan forces," the US military said in a statement. It said the operation "had been previously coordinated with Pakistan." However, Major General Athar Abbas, a Pakistani military spokesman, told Al Jazeera: "This is an absolutely baseless allegation or explanation." "We have coordination, we have intelligence sharing, if there was some doubt about any post they should have informed us before taking up any strike." Asked whether Pakistan would continue to coordinate with coalition forces, Abbas said: "That is not the point. We have handed over our protest to the coalition forces." "We will wait for their reply. And whatever is their reply we would like them to consider it seriously." Yousaf Raza Gilani, Pakistan's prime minister, also condemned the attack. "We will take a stand for sovereignty, integrity and self-respect and we will not allow our soil [to be attacked]," he told parliament.