Islamabad:
Pakistan Army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani yesterday gave his troops "full liberty" to respond to any further cross-border attacks by NATO forces in Afghanistan in the wake of an air strike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers, official sources have said.
The powerful army chief told commanders of units deployed along the western border with Afghanistan that they had "full liberty of action to respond (by) employing all capabilities" available at their disposal, the sources said.
Kayani was quoted by the sources as saying that there should be "no ambiguity in the rules of engagement for everyone down the chain of command" if they faced an attack by NATO forces.
Such an action would "require no clearance at any level" and the army would "provide resources as required on ground", he was quoted as saying.
While lauding the response of his troops to the NATO air strike, Kayani said the action could have been more effective if the Pakistan Air Force had joined in.
However, it was "no fault of the PAF" that it could not participate in the action and a timely decision could not be taken due to the breakdown of communications and a lack of clarity, Kayani was quoted as saying by the sources.
Any aggressor will not "walk away easily" and "no loss will be considered greater than upholding the national institution's honour", the sources further quoted the army chief as saying.
Pakistan's military says that confusion and a communication breakdown prevented its airforce from scrambling to defend troops on the ground during the deadly NATO bombings.
The military has faced uncomfortable questions over why the airforce did not respond after the army said the deadly NATO attack went on for almost two hours and that Pakistani commanders had contacted and pleaded with coalition commanders to stop firing.
A military statement on Friday said the airforce could not be deployed due to a "breakdown of communication" and confusion at "various levels" within the organization.