Pakistan condemns "cowardly" U.S. attack; 11 dead

By Kamran Haider

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan lodged a strong protest with the United States over an "unprovoked and cowardly" air strike by U.S. forces in Afghanistan that killed 11 Pakistani soldiers at a border post.

They died in the Mohmand region, opposite Afghanistan's Kunar province, late on Tuesday as U.S. coalition forces in Afghanistan battled militants attacking from Pakistan, a Pakistani security official said.

"The attack was unprovoked and a gross violation of international border between Pakistan and Afghanistan," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"The senseless use of air power against a Pakistani border post by coalition forces is totally unacceptable." U.S. ambassador Anne Patterson was summoned to the Pakistani foreign ministry over the incident, a senior government official said.

In its strongest criticism of the U.S. military since joining the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism, the Pakistani military said the killing of the 11 paramilitary soldiers, including an officer, was "unprovoked and cowardly". Read On