Feed: CNN.com - WORLD
Posted on: Monday, December 05, 2011 5:34 PM
Author: CNN.com - WORLD
Subject: U.S. vacating base in Pakistan after troop deaths

The United States is vacating an air base in Pakistan at Islamabad's request following a NATO attack that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers.

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U.S. vacating air base in Pakistan after troop deaths

By the CNN Wire Staff

December 5, 2011 -- Updated 1534 GMT (2334 HKT)

Demonstrators burn U.S., NATO and Israeli flags during a religious procession in Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The U.S. is vacating Shamsi Air Base, which is used by drones
Pakistan asked the U.S. to leave the base after an airstrike killed 24 Pakistani troops
NATO called the casualties "tragic"
The incident exacerbated tensions between the United States and Pakistan

Islamabad, Pakistan (CNN) -- The United States is vacating an air base in Pakistan at Islamabad's request following a NATO attack that killed two dozen Pakistani soldiers.

U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter told Pakistan's WAQT TV on Monday that the United States is leaving Shamsi Air Base in Balochistan Province southwest of Quetta. U.S. drones have taken off from the base and have been refueled there for operations against Islamic militants.

The order to clear out of the base is in the aftermath of an incident last month where 24 Pakistani troops were killed in a airstrike.

According to two U.S. officials familiar with an initial assessment of the incident, U.S. commandos were working alongside Afghan troops when they came under fire. The troops did not tell Pakistani authorities about the mission ahead of time, because they thought it would take place entirely within Afghanistan.

Fareed's Take: Pakistan

U.S. talked with Pakistan before airstrike

U.S. and Pakistani officials said Friday there was communication between the two sides before the November 26 strike, but they differed on the content of those conversations. A Pakistani military spokesman said the attack hit the wrong target.

A probe, headed by U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Clark, is under way.

The issue of U.S. and NATO forces coming into Pakistan has been an especially sensitive topic in that country since May, when U.S. commandos killed then al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad without Pakistani leaders' consent

NATO has called the casualties "tragic." U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have called the incident a "tragedy" and offered condolences. President Barack Obama called Pakistan's president Sunday to express condolences over the airstrike. He made clear that the incident was not a deliberate attack on Pakistan, the White House said.

The incident exacerbated already strained relations with Pakistan.

"Such attacks ... demonstrate complete disregard for international law and human life," Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said the day after the attack.

Khar asked the United States to vacate the Shamsi Air Base within 15 days.

The U.S. Embassy in Pakistan confirmed Monday that Munter said the United States is complying with the request.

This is not the first time controversy has surrounded Shamsi Air Base.

In April, a senior Pakistani intelligence official told CNN that U.S. military personnel would be leaving the base amid a public furor over U.S. drone attacks that had killed Pakistani civilians.

CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Barbara Starr and journalist Shaan Khan contributed to this report.