<p>As many as 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 15 were injured after NATO helicopters from Afghanistan attacked a border checkpost in Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border early Saturday, leading to Islamabad lodging a strong protest with Washington.<br /><br />Islamabad has said that it is permanently stopping -- not merely suspending -- the passage of NATO supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan.<br /><br />Mushtaq Ahmed, a 23-year-old soldier who sustained severe injuries, said they were under the impression that the attackers were Taliban. <br /><br />He said none of them expected a NATO strike.<br /><br />“The unprovoked attack surprised us and at one point we thought that the NATO helicopters were being flown by Taliban,” the daily Dawn quoted him as saying.<br /><br />Another soldier, Javidullah, said that NATO “used everything they had - mortars, rockets and bombs. The shelling was indiscriminate”.<br /><br />The entire area was under fire, he recalled.</p>
<p>As many as 25 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 15 were injured after NATO helicopters from Afghanistan attacked a border checkpost in Mohmand tribal region near the Afghan border early Saturday, leading to Islamabad lodging a strong protest with Washington.<br /><br />Islamabad has said that it is permanently stopping -- not merely suspending -- the passage of NATO supplies to Afghanistan through Pakistan.<br /><br />Mushtaq Ahmed, a 23-year-old soldier who sustained severe injuries, said they were under the impression that the attackers were Taliban. <br /><br />He said none of them expected a NATO strike.<br /><br />“The unprovoked attack surprised us and at one point we thought that the NATO helicopters were being flown by Taliban,” the daily Dawn quoted him as saying.<br /><br />Another soldier, Javidullah, said that NATO “used everything they had - mortars, rockets and bombs. The shelling was indiscriminate”.<br /><br />The entire area was under fire, he recalled.</p>