NATO helicopters exchange fire with Pakistani border forces

ROUNDUP: NATO helicopters exchange fire with Pakistani border forcesKabul/Islamabad  - NATO forces in Afghanistan and Pakistani army said on Thursday that their military exchanged fire on the Afghan-Pakistan border, but both sources gave contradictory information about how the firefight was triggered.

The Pakistani army said that its soldiers opened fire on NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) helicopters after the aircraft violated the country's airspace along the border with Afghanistan.

But ISAF said in a statement issued in Kabul that its helicopters received small-arms fire from a Pakistan military checkpoint along the border near Tanai district, Khowst while conducting routine operations in Afghanistan.

"At no time did ISAF helicopters cross into Pakistani airspace," the statement said.

The Pakistan side said the incident took place in the Saidgai Ghulam Khan area of the North Waziristan tribal district, a known sanctuary of al-Qaeda and Taliban militants launching attacks on international forces on the other side of the frontier.

"When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistani territory, our security forces fired anticipatory warning shots. The helicopters returned fire and flew back," an army spokesman Major Murad Khan said.

There were no reports of any damage to the helicopters or any casualties, the alliance statement said. Both ISAF and army spokesman Khan assured that they were working together to resolve the matter.

The tensions on the Pakistan-Afghan border have increased in recent weeks as the international forces, particularly those from the United States, step up aerial attacks targeting suspected militant hideouts inside the Pakistani tribal belt.

Stressing that only its troops have the right to take security actions on its soil, Pakistan's army has vowed to defend its territory against any unauthorized trespass.

The latest clash came two days after a US drone crashed in the Pakistani district of South Waziristan. Media reports citing security officials said the drone was in fact shot down by tribesmen and Pakistani troops. (dpa)

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