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Shots fired in US-Pakistan clash | Shots fired in US-Pakistan clash |
(30 minutes later) | |
The United States military says US and Afghan forces have exchanged gunfire with Pakistani troops across the border with Afghanistan. | The United States military says US and Afghan forces have exchanged gunfire with Pakistani troops across the border with Afghanistan. |
A senior US military official says a five-minute skirmish broke out after Pakistani soldiers fired warning shots near two US helicopters. | A senior US military official says a five-minute skirmish broke out after Pakistani soldiers fired warning shots near two US helicopters. |
No-one was hurt in the incidents and the US maintains its troops did not cross the border from Afghanistan. | |
Cross-border action by US-led forces has angered Pakistan in recent weeks. | |
The latest incident took place along the border of the eastern Afghan region of Khost, which is a hotbed of militant groups. | |
Escorting troops | |
A US Central Command spokesman, Rear Admiral Greg Smith, said the helicopters had been escorting US troops and Afghan border police when they were fired on by Pakistani troops. | |
He said that coalition ground forces then fired rounds - not to hit the Pakistani troops, he added, but simply "to make certain that they realised they should stop shooting". | |
The patrol had been moving about one mile (1.6km) inside Afghanistan, he added. | |
However, the Pakistani military gave a different account. | |
In a statement, commanders said troops fired warning shots at the helicopters when they strayed over the Pakistan border. | |
"When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistani territory, our own security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," a statement said. | |
"On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back." | |
In New York, Pakistan's new prime minister gave another version of events when he said that Pakistan forces had fired "flares" to warn the helicopters they were near the border. | |
Tension between Washington and Islamabad has risen since 3 September, when the US conducted a ground assault in Pakistani territory, its first, targeting what it said was a militant target in the tribal region of South Waziristan. |