News
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
NATO choppers violate Pak airspace
* Two Pakistani soldiers injured as NATO helicopters open fire at Admi Kot post in North Waziristan
* Pakistan Army lodges ‘strong protest’
MIRANSHAH/KABUL: Two NATO helicopters violated Pakistan’s airspace at Admi Kot post in North Waziristan Agency in early hours of Tuesday morning.
The troops stationed at the post fired at the intruding helicopters and, as a result of exchange of fire, two of Pakistan Army soldiers received injuries.
The attack triggered a ‘strong protest’ from Islamabad as tensions with the US simmered after Osama bin Laden’s death.
The two choppers opened fire on an army checkpoint in a restive tribal region in Pakistan’s northwest after they were shot at, a Western military official in Kabul said.
The attack occurred just one day after US Senator John Kerry attempted to soothe a row with Pakistan’s military and civilian leadership about the May 2 raid that killed bin Laden.
Tuesday’s helicopter attack took place in Wacha Bibi, 50 kilometres west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan’s tribal district, officials said.
Washington considers the tribal belt a hotbed of al Qaeda, where Taliban and other militants plot attacks on American troops, including those in the US-led international force based in Afghanistan, and on Western targets.
“Pakistan Army has lodged a strong protest and demanded a flag meeting” with NATO officials in Afghanistan, a statement issued in Islamabad said.
“Two NATO helicopters violated Pakistan’s airspace today at Admi Kot Post, North Waziristan, in the early hours of the morning.”
“The troops at the post fired upon the helicopters and, as a result of exchange of fire, two of our soldiers received injuries,” the statement said.
The cross-border incident comes as relations between Islamabad and Washington remain tense following the commando raid that killed bin Laden, an attack that embarrassed and angered the Pakistani military and leadership. The western military official in Kabul, who requested anonymity, told AFP that the two helicopters were in Afghanistan “in support of a forward operating base which was receiving fire from across the border of Pakistan”.
“Upon arrival at the scene, one of the helicopters received fire from across the border but didn’t immediately return fire. Upon receiving fire a second time, the helicopter returned fire,” he added.
A spokesman for the international military alliance in Afghanistan said ISAF “had reports of a possible incident. “We are looking into it,” Lieutenant Colonel John L Dorrian said. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk