ISLAMABAD – Three Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers have been killed and three injured when two NATO gunship helicopters attacked an outpost of Frontier Corps at Mandata Kandaho, Ali Mangola area of Upper Kurram Agency, on Thursday.
According to ISPR, two helicopters from Afghanistan appeared to have crossed the border into Pakistan at 05:25 hours and engaged through cannon fire on an outpost of Frontier Corps, located 200 metres inside Pakistan (location of post shared with ISAF), manned by six soldiers.
It said that troops of Frontier Corps present at the post retaliated through rifle fire to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into the Pakistan territory.
Instead of heeding to the warning, the helicopters went to fire two missiles, destroying the post. As a result, three FC soldiers embraced martyrdom and three others got injured.
This was the fourth incident of its kind during the past one week. In the wake of the last incident on September 27, contact was made at the highest military level and the incident was regretted by the USA.
Agencies add: NATO gunship helicopters from Afghanistan attacked a border region of Pakistan on Thursday, killing three Pakistani soldiers, security officials said, a raid that is certain to raise tensions.
“It was an unprovoked attack that took place early Thursday morning. NATO helicopters entered our airspace and targeted a paramilitary checkpost,” a senior security official said.
The Pakistani officials said the incident took place in Mandati Kandaw village northwest of Parachinar, the main town of Kurram. The helicopters shelled the area for about 25 minutes, an official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
“NATO helicopters intruded up to five kilometres into Pakistan’s airspace,” the security official said.
Another official said security forces had taken ‘suitable measures to respond to such acts of aggression, which will be known to people very soon’.
In Kabul, NATO said its aircraft entered Pakistani airspace early Thursday in self-defence and killed ‘several armed individuals’ after aircrews believed they had been fired at from the ground.
After striking what was believed to be an insurgent group, “the aircraft received what the crews assessed as effective small arms fire from individuals just across the border in Pakistan,” NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement.
“Operating in self-defence, the ISAF aircraft entered into Pakistani airspace killing several armed individuals,” it said.
ISAF said it had been informed by Pakistani military officials that members of their border forces had been hit by coalition aircraft and said a review was underway ‘to verify the exact location of the two engagements and the facts’.
“Both sides have in mind that it is the insurgents, operating on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan and violating the territorial sovereignty of both countries, that we are focused on fighting,” ISAF said.