Tuesday - September 16, 2008

Reports of shooting between Pakistan and US denied.

Hard to really know what’s going on over there.  The first reports that came in said Pakistani troops did in fact fire on our guys, their military further stated they would not tolerate American troops crossing the border. 

Now we’re told, Never Mind. Didn’t happen.  Except some are saying yes it did and other saying yeah but not that way. ?
Bizarre.

Pakistan and America have denied claims by Pakistani officials near the Afghan border that shots were exchanged between the two.

Last Updated: 8:40AM BST 16 Sep 2008

Firing by Pakistani troops forced US helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.

Pakistan’s military spokesman, Major Murad Khan, confirmed that there had been shooting but said the American helicopters had not crossed into Pakistani airspace and that Pakistani troops were not responsible for the firing.

“The US choppers were there at the border, but they did not violate our airspace,” he said.

“We confirm that there was a firing incident at the time when the helicopters were there, but our forces were not involved.”

A spokesman for the U.S. military at Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, said its forces had not reported any such incident.

But the official denials were contradicted by Pakistani civilian officials and villagers in Angor Adda.

One official said that “the troops stationed at BP-27 post fired at the choppers and they turned away”.

A resident described the tension in the village through the night. “We saw helicopters flying all over the area. We stayed awake the whole night after the incident,” he said.

The alleged incident took place near Angor Adda, a village in the tribal region of South Waziristan where U.S. commandos in helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda and Taliban camp earlier this month.

“The US choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 metres at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” said one security official.

The US and Pakistani military both denied that account, but Angor Adda villagers and officials supported it.

Pakistan is a crucial US ally in its war on terrorism, and its support is key to the success of Western forces trying to stabilise Afghanistan. But Washington has become impatient over Islamabad’s response to the threat from al Qaeda and Taliban fighters in Pakistan’s tribal regions on the border.

At least 20 people, including women and children, were killed in the South Waziristan raid earlier this month, sparking outrage in Pakistan and prompting a diplomatic protest.

Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani said in a strongly worded statement last week that Pakistan would not allow foreign troops onto its soil and Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity would be defended at all costs.

Another security official said on Monday that US armoured vehicles were also seen moving on the Afghan side of the border, while US warplanes were seen overhead.

He said Pakistani soldiers sounded a bugle call and fired in the air, forcing the helicopters to return to Afghan territory.

http://tinyurl.com/5mrvws

Posted by Drew458     on 09/16/2008 at 10:48 AM   
Filed Under: • War On Terror • War-Stories •  
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