ISLAMABAD, March 5: Pakistan and the US are again at odds over drone attacks — this time they are in conflict over who carried out two strikes in Waziristan last month.

On Tuesday, a military spokesman not only denied the involvement of Pakistani armed forces in the two attacks, but also accused the US of trying to obfuscate facts on drone strikes that have time and again riled up the Pakistani public.

“Such an accusation is distortion of facts and seems to be aimed at diluting Pakistan’s stance on drone strikes. Pakistan’s security forces have not carried out any operation, including air strikes, in the area on dates mentioned in the news report,” the ISPR said in a statement about a New York Times report in which US officials had disowned two reported strikes on militant compounds in North and South Waziristan on Feb 6 and 8 and suggested the attacks could have been carried out by Pakistani forces.

“They were not ours…We haven’t had any kinetic activity since January,” the NYT quoted one American official as saying.

Both sides have never in the past officially confirmed or denied the attacks due to the covert nature of the programme.

“I have checked on the ground and there has been nothing from our side,” a military official said.

The army’s insistence on not having been involved in any attack on the militant compounds was quite emphatic.

Pakistani military fears that the US may be attempting to confuse the situation and deflect the international pressure on the CIA-run drone war.

Military officials pointed out that the reference to 12 drone strikes as being suspicious was quite disturbing. They feared that a media offensive by the US on the issue of drones may be in the offing.

The US has quite often tried to pressurise Pakistan’s civil and military leadership through leaked stories.

Islamabad has always denounced drone attacks as a violation of its sovereignty and against international law.

When asked about military’s information about the two strikes being questioned by US officials, an officer said that either it could be a case of a misreported attack or an explosion inside the compound.

The Pakistani Taliban have offered truce to the military. Initially the army appeared to be hesitant in taking up the offer, but a change in their attitude towards the offer is evident after a multi-party conference organised by pro-Taliban JUI-F endorsed talks with militants.

A similar conference held last month under the auspices of the Awami National Party had backed talks only under the Constitution.