Pak, US troops trade fire at border

By MUNIR AHMAD

ISLAMABAD

Sept. 26: Pakistan warned US troops not to intrude on its territory on Friday after the two anti-terror allies traded fire along the Afghan border, straining already tense ties. The five-minute clash on Thursday came at a time the United States is stepping up cross-border operations in the frontier region, known as a haven for Taliban and Al Qaida militants.

The clash, the first serious exchange with Pakistani forces acknowledged by the US, follows a string of other alleged border incidents and incursions that have angered many Pakistanis. Speaking in New York, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari tried to play down the incident, saying only that "flares" were fired at foreign helicopters that he said strayed into his country from Afghanistan.

US and Nato military officials said the ground troops and helicopters were in Afghan territory.

Pakistani government spokesman Akram Shaheedi urged US-led coalition forces "not to violate territorial sovereignty of Pakistan as it is counterproductive to the war on terror." "It has been Pakistan’s policy that we will not allow anyone to violate our sovereignty, and we will continue to defend our territorial sovereignty," he said on Friday.

The clash occurred as Mr Zardari was in New York meeting with US secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scheduled to meet with US President George W. Bush on Friday.

Two American OH-58 reconnaissance helicopters, known as Kiowas, were on a routine patrol in the eastern province of Khost when they received small arms fire from the Pakistani border post, said Sgt. Kevin Wallace, a US military spokesman in Bagram, Afghanistan. There was no damage to aircraft or crew, officials said. Sarwar Shah, a 45-year-old bus driver who witnessed the incident, said two foreign choppers and a military vehicle were involved. "I heard gunshots, but it lasted only for six or seven minutes," he said.

He said he was happy to see the Pakistan army firing at the helicopters, "If the army needs our help, we will help it against the Americans," Shah said.

US Central Command spokesman Rear Adm. Greg Smith said the helicopters had been escorting US troops and Afghan border police.

When the helicopters were fired on, the ground forces fired rounds meant not to hit the Pakistani troops, but "to make certain that they realised they should stop shooting," Rear Adm. Smith said from Centcom headquarters in Florida. The Pakistani forces fired back during a skirmish that lasted about five minutes. The joint patrol was moving about a mile inside Afghanistan.

—AP