Five die in Nato shelling on border town

[SpArK]

Five die in Nato shelling on border town​

PESHAWAR: Pakistani security officials said Tuesday that five people were killed and two wounded by Nato cross-border fire from Afghanistan in the third such incident in days.

They said members of the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the eastern Afghan province of Khost shelled Matta Sanga town close to the border early Monday.

“Five people were killed and two injured in the shelling by Nato-led forces,” a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A Pakistani government official in the region said the casualties were “all civilians”.

A Pakistani military official, who also spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, also confirmed the incident.

ISAF spokeswoman Major Sunset Belinsky confirmed “an engagement by ISAF helicopters against insurgent forces” on the Pakistan border Monday.

“According to current reports the helicopters did not enter Pakistan airspace. ISAF forces attempted to contact the Pakistan military prior to the engagement, but were unable to make contact,” Belinsky said.

The spokeswoman did not have any information about casualties.

Pakistan on Monday denounced cross-border air strikes by Nato helicopters pursuing militants as a violation of its sovereignty after ISAF said it killed more than 30 rebels on Friday.

ISAF said the helicopters opened fire after a remote Afghan forces outpost in Khost province came under attack, and that two helicopters returned to the border area on Saturday, killing several more insurgents.

There are 152,000 US and Nato troops in Afghanistan fighting a nine-year Taliban insurgency.

Washington considers Pakistan's lawless tribal areas on the Afghan border a stronghold of Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked commanders who plot attacks on US troops as well as Western targets elsewhere in the world. -AFP



DAWN.COM | Pakistan | Five die in Nato shelling on border town

 

[Musafar]

These a$$holes are really pushing it now.

I can see FATA swamped with NATO from within a year from now.

I;m not even joking.