Pakistan Military Issues Orders to Fire On U.S. Forces If Attacked Again

Pakistan’s top military commander has issued orders to the country’s troops to return fire should they come under attack again from U.S.-led coalition forces, a move that’s likely to increase tensions after an American-led air raid on two border outposts last week killed 24 Pakistani soldiers.

Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Pakistan’s army chief, issued the order in a letter to his troops that set out the rules of engagement against any “aggressor.”

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Kayani’s order, distributed Thursday, could lead to a skirmish between Pakistani and coalition forces, supposedly allies, if there’s another incident of “friendly fire” at the border. It also turns the deployment of more than 100,000 Pakistani troops along the country’s western border from a force meant to stop the Taliban to one charged with protecting the border.

Kayani is under immense pressure due to anger within his ranks over the two-hour bombardment of the mountaintop outposts known as Volcano and Boulder. The Pakistani air force didn’t respond to the attack .

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“I want to emphasize and leave no ambiguity in the rules of engagement for everyone down the chain of command,” Kayani said in the letter to his troops. “When under attack, you have full liberty of action to respond with all capabilities at your disposal. This will require no clearance at any level.”

“I have very clearly directed that any act of aggression will be responded with full force, regardless of the cost and consequences,” he said.

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