Pakistanis Double-Crossed Americans in '07 Ambush

With US-Pakistani tensions on the verge of boiling over, the New York Times today has a shocking account of a 2007 incident in which the Pakistanis allegedly opened fire on American and Afghan military officials after a meeting to discuss a disputed border post. As the officers were getting into cars to leave, a Pakistani soldier shot and killed a US Army major. The gunman was immediately killed, but soon the Americans and Afghans were under fire from windows all around them, witnesses say.

One Afghan colonel remembers Pakistani officers hurriedly leaving before the shooting started, implying they knew what was coming. Meanwhile, officers who’d left in one car were driven well past their helicopter pad, and into fire from a Pakistani post, their Pakistani driver refusing to stop until an American commander drew his pistol. They were forced to abandoned the car and run for the helicopter. The entire incident has been kept quiet by both the US and Pakistani government, with Pakistan blaming it first on militants, and then on a lone rogue soldier. (More Pakistan stories.)