News
Friday, October 01, 2010
NATO strike kills three FC troops in Kurram* Three others injured as two NATO helicopters enter Pak airspace near Parachinar and bomb FC checkpost
* NATO says they acted in self-defence after being shot at
PESHAWAR: Pakistani officials on Thursday accused NATO forces based in Afghanistan of killing three Pakistani soldiers in the fourth cross-border attack this week.
Pakistani security officials said two NATO helicopters had entered Pakistani airspace and bombed a paramilitary checkpoint. “It was an unprovoked attack that took place early Thursday morning. NATO helicopters entered our airspace and targeted a paramilitary checkpost, killing three soldiers and wounding three others,” a senior security official said.
The slain soldiers, who belonged to the Frontier Corps, had fired warning shots to indicate to the helicopters that they had crossed into Pakistani territory. Instead of heeding the warning, the planes fired two missiles at their checkpost. The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes, a security official said. Officials said that the incident took place in Mandati Kandaw village, northwest of Parachinar in Kurram Agency. “NATO helicopters intruded up to five kilometres into Pakistan’s airspace,” a security official said. Another official said security forces had taken “suitable measures to respond to such acts of aggression, which will be known to people very soon.”
NATO said its aircraft entered Pakistani airspace in self-defence and killed “several armed individuals” after air crews believed they had been fired at from the ground. After striking what was believed to be an insurgent group, “the aircraft received what the crews assessed as effective small arms fire from individuals just across the border in Pakistan,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement. “Operating in self-defense, the ISAF aircraft entered into Pakistani airspace killing several armed individuals,” it said. Procedures call for ISAF forces to contact Pakistani officers if coalition troops must cross the border, either before or during an operation. agencies
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk