Shots fired as US-led troops near Pakistani border

PAKISTAN: Shots were fired when US-led coalition helicopters based in Afghanistan neared the border with Pakistan, officials said Monday, but there were conflicting accounts of the incident.

Security officials said the threat of an incursion Sunday led Pakistani troops and tribesmen to fire their weapons, but the chief Pakistan army spokesman, the Pentagon and the coalition denied any such incident took place.

The gunfire broke out about 100 metres (yards) from the South Waziristan tribal area, where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are believed to be sheltering. There were no casualties.

"The US-led coalition troops in helicopters came close to the border and they tried to sneak into Pakistan territory but shots were fired by Pakistani troops and the coalition troops retreated," a local security official said.

A military official based in the area initially confirmed to AFP that an incident took place.

"There was firing but our troops were not involved," he told AFP. "Firing was heard but there was no violation of Pakistan territory," he said.

A second security official in the area said tribesmen joined in the firing after Pakistani soldiers played bugles to alert local people to the threat of an incursion.

But the Pakistan army's chief military spokesman, Major General Athar Abbas, denied there had been any such incident late Sunday.

Peshawar, Tuesday, AFP