ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN ? Pakistani paramilitary troops shot at NATO helicopters that crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan early Tuesday, triggering a firefight that left two soldiers wounded, military officials here said.
The incident, which coalition officials in Afghanistan said they were investigating, served as a new threat to U.S.-Pakistani relations a day after Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.) visited this capital city to alleviate heightened tensions after the U.S. raid to kill Osama bin Laden. Pakistan, facing domestic criticism over the operation and international suspicion for its failure to locate bin Laden, had warned it would resist any future U.S. incursions into its territory.
According to a statement by the Pakistani army, paramilitary soldiers at a border post in North Waziristan spotted NATO helicopters in Pakistani airspace Tuesday morning. They fired on the helicopters, which then shelled the post, injuring two, the statement said. Pakistan said it had lodged a ?strong protest? with NATO and demanded a border meeting of military officials.
After a NATO airstrike killed three Pakistani soldiers last September, Pakistan retaliated by shutting a key border crossing used as a supply route for coalition troops in landlocked Afghanistan. The crossing stayed closed for 11 days, and the United States apologized for the incident.
A spokesman for the NATO-led coalition, Lt. Col. John L. Dorrian, said Tuesday?s incident was being assessed ?in a cooperative manner? through a border coordination center manned by Afghan, Pakistani and NATO forces.
In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman, Marine Col. Dave Lapan, said NATO and Pakistani officials were working ?to determine the sequence of events? and whether the helicopters had indeed entered Pakistani airspace.
He said the helicopters were responding to ?direct and indirect fire? aimed at Forward Operating Base Tillman in Afghanistan, near the Pakistani border.
Kerry, who returned to Washington early Tuesday, said that he had ?emphasized in clear and absolute terms? to top Pakistani officials ?the serious questions that members of Congress and the American people are asking with respect to Pakistan and its role in fighting violent extremism.? Speaking at a hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which he chairs, Kerry said he also ?listened carefully to the frustration .?.?. in Pakistan .?.?. about how we have been doing business together, about how the raid was conducted and perceived in terms of their politics and their ability to manage in Pakistan.?
?After many hours of talks,? he said, ?we agreed that it was imperative to move forward jointly and to take specific steps to strengthen the relationship.?
Kerry said progress would ?only be measured by actions,? but he did not indicate what steps were being discussed or when they would be taken. Since bin Laden?s killing, Pakistan has frozen new visas for U.S. intelligence officials and Special Operations troops training the country?s Frontier Corps, which provides security in tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.
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