Forum Pakistan

September 15, 2008 1554 GMT
Stratfor.org
Reports surfaced Sept. 15 of Pakistani troops firing on U.S. forces attempting to cross the border from Afghanistan, just the latest in a series of incidents upping the tension between Islamabad and Washington.


Pakistani Forces Clash with Coalition Forces Along Pak-Afghan Border
http://www.chinaview.cn 2008-09-15 21:33:10

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan's security forces and Afghanistan-based U.S.-led coalition forces clashed along the Pakistani-Afghan border on Monday, the state-run PTV reported.

Some U.S spy and fighter planes violated Pakistan's airspace at the Angor Ada area of South Waziristan tribal region and returned to Afghanistan after action from Pakistan's security forces, said the report.

The News Network International (NNI) news agency quoted locals as saying that a U.S. fighter plane was sighted in the area, forcing Pakistan's border troops to blow warning siren from bunkers. Fierce firing was also heard in the area, according to NNI.

On the weekend, Pakistan, for the first time, sent fighter planes to the Waziristan tribal region to check any airspace violation by the U.S. planes, according to local tribesmen.

The tribal areas especially Waziristan region have witnessed missile attacks launched from suspected U.S. drones. Pakistan has lodged strong protests against the cross-border attacks.



Pakistan soldiers 'confront U.S.'
Pakistani troops have fired shots into the air to stop US troops crossing into the South Waziristan region of Pakistan, local officials say.

Reports say nine US helicopters landed on the Afghan side of the border and US troops then tried to cross the border. The incident comes amid growing anger in Pakistan over increasingly aggressive US attacks along the border.

The latest confrontation began at around midnight, local people say.
They say seven US helicopter gunships and two troop-carrying Chinook helicopters landed in the Afghan province of Paktika near the Zohba mountain range.
US troops from the Chinooks then tried to cross the border. As they did so, Pakistani paramilitary soldiers at a checkpoint opened fire into the air and the US troops decided not to continue forward, local Pakistani officials say.

Reports say the firing lasted for several hours. Local people evacuated their homes and tribesmen took up defensive positions in the mountains.

The incident happened close to the town of Angoor Adda, some 30km (20 miles) from Wana, the main town of South Waziristan.

A Pakistani military spokesman in Islamabad confirmed that there was firing but denied that Pakistani troops were involved.


Diplomatic fury
Pakistan reacted with diplomatic fury when US helicopters landed troops in South Waziristan on 3 September. It was the first ground assault by US troops in Pakistan.

Locals in the Musa Nikeh area said American soldiers attacked a target with gunfire and bombs, and said women and children were among some 20 civilians who died in the attack.

In the latest incident, the tribesmen say they grabbed their guns and took up defensive positions after placing their women and children out of harm's way.

Pakistan's army has warned that the aggressive US policy will widen the insurgency by uniting the tribesmen with the Taliban.

Last week the army chief declared that Pakistan would defend the country's territorial integrity at all cost, although the prime minister has since said this would have to be through diplomatic channels rather than military retaliation.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/s ... 396366.stm
Published: 2008/09/15 12:52:53 GMT
© BBC MMVIII


By REUTERS
Published: September 15, 2008
Filed at 7:49 a.m. ET

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Firing by Pakistani troops forced two U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.

The 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. [Editor’s note: There is no evidence it was a camp for Al Qaeda or Afghan Taliban. U.S. forces never attack the so-called Pakistani Taliban.]

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

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

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 U.S. armored vehicles were also seen moving on the Afghan side of the border, while U.S. 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.

CONFLICTING VERSIONS

Military spokesman Major Murad Khan confirmed that there had been shooting. But he said the American helicopters had not crossed into Pakistani airspace and Pakistani troops were not responsible for the firing.

"The U.S. choppers were there at the border, but they did not violate our airspace," Khan 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.

"The unit in the area belongs to the (U.S.-led) coalition. They are not reporting any such incident," the U.S. military spokesman said.

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

One official told Reuters by telephone that "the troops stationed at BP-27 post fired at the choppers and they turned away."

Two Chinook helicopters appeared set to land when troops began shooting, alerting tribesmen who also opened fire on the intruders, said a senior government official in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.

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 fiercely independent tribesmen of the region carry weapons regardless of whether they are militants.

PAKISTAN ARMY FIGHTING MILITANTS

The raid on Angor Adda on September 3 was the first overt ground incursion by U.S. troops into Pakistan since the deployment of U.S. forces in Afghanistan in late 2001.

Despite apparent U.S. frustration with Pakistan, the Pakistani army has been involved in fierce fighting with Islamist militants in Bajaur, another tribal region, and Swat, a valley in North West Frontier Province, close to the tribal lands. Forces, using helicopter gunships and artillery, killed at least 16 fighters and wounded 25 in Bajaur on Sunday. More than 750 militants have been killed in an offensive there that began in late August. [Editor’s note: These are the militants that U.S. drones spare because these militants do not attack U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and focus only on fighting Pakistani military.]

(Additional reporting by Alamgir Bitani; Writing by Simon Cameron-Moore; Editing by Paul Tait)