The 2011 NATO attack in Pakistan (also known as the Salala incident, Salala attack or 26/11 attacks) was a border skirmish that occurred when United States-led NATO forces engaged Pakistani security forces at two Pakistani military checkposts along the Afghanistan–Pakistan border on 26 November 2011, with both sides later claiming that the other had fired first. Two NATO Apache helicopters, an AC-130 gunship and two F-15E Eagle fighter jets entered as little as to up to into the Pakistani border area of Salala (located in the Baizai subdivision of the Mohmand Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas) at 2 a.m. local time. They came from across the border in Afghanistan and opened or returned fire at two Pakistani border patrol check-posts, killing 28 Pakistani soldiers and wounding 12 others. This attack resulted in a deterioration of relations between Pakistan and the United States. The Pakistani public reacted with protests all over the country and the government took measures adversely affecting the American exit strategy from Afghanistan, including the evacuation of Shamsi Airfield and closure of the NATO supply line in Pakistan. On 3 July 2012, then-United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton officially apologized for the losses suffered by the Pakistani military. Subsequently, Pakistan restored the NATO supply routes. Background and timeline The attack On 26 November 2011, US-led NATO forces opened fire on two Pakistani border check-posts near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The attack occurred at approximat in Afghanistan and 21:00 GMT). According to the Director General of Military Operations (DGMO), Major General Ashfaq Nadeem, the attack was a coordinated NATO strike and used two AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopters, an AC-130H Spectre gunship and two F-15E Eagle fighter jets. A MC-12W Liberty turbo-propeller aircraft was used in an intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance role. The check-posts were located to inside Pakistan from the border with Afghanistan in the Salala area of the Baizai subdivision of the Mohmand Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan, and separated by a distance of one kilometre on the Salala mountain top. The attacks caused the deaths of up to twenty-four Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, Major Mujahid Mirani and Captain Usman Ali. Thirteen other soldiers were injured. Both sides reported they were attacked first. The poorly defined border, as well as a history of Taliban fighters moving around the Afghan border regions, were cited as possible contributing factors to the incident. US-Afghan