Pakistan warns US troops against incursions

Pakistan warned US troops not to intrude on its territory today, after the two anti-terror allies traded fire along the volatile border with Afghanistan.

Yesterday’s five-minute clash adds to already heightened tensions at a time the United States is stepping up cross-border operations in a region known as a haven for Taliban and al Qaida militants.

The clash – the first serious exchange with Pakistani forces acknowledged by the US – follows a string of other alleged border incidents and incursions that have angered many Pakistanis.

Speaking in New York, Pakistan’s president tried to play down the incident, saying only “flares” were fired at foreign helicopters that he said strayed into his country from Afghanistan.

US and Nato military officials said the ground troops and helicopters were in Afghan territory.

Pakistani government spokesman Akram Shaheedi urged US-led coalition forces “not to violate territorial sovereignty of Pakistan as it is counterproductive to the war on terror.

“It has been Pakistan’s policy that we will not allow any one to violate our sovereignty, and we will continue to defend our territorial sovereignty,” he said Friday.

The clash occurred as new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari was in New York meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai was scheduled to meet with US President George Bush today.

Two American OH-58 reconnaissance helicopters, known as Kiowas, were on a routine patrol in the eastern province of Khost when they received small arms fire from the Pakistani border post, said Tech Sergeant Kevin Wallace, a US military spokesman in Bagram, Afghanistan.