Kabul: Pakistan has resumed some cooperation
with US-led forces in Afghanistan following NATO strikes that
killed 24 Pakistani soldiers by working with the coalition to
prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a
spokesman says.
The weekend airstrikes have severely strained the already
troubled relationship between Pakistan and the US,
jeopardising Washington`s hopes of enlisting Islamabad`s
support in winding down the Afghan war.
Pakistan is still outraged by the soldiers` deaths and
has retaliated by closing its Afghan border crossings to NATO
supplies, demanding the US vacate an air base used by American
drones and boycotting an international conference aimed at
stabilising Afghanistan.
But NATO said Islamabad communicated with the alliance to
prevent an exchange of fire over the border late Tuesday from
turning into another international incident.
US forces received mortar and recoilless rifle fire from
an area just inside the Pakistan border, said US spokesman
Navy Lt Cmdr Brian Badura.
US forces returned fire in self-defence while confirming
with the Pakistani military that it wasn`t involved.
No damage or casualties were reported by the US or
Pakistan, he said.
German Brig General Carsten Jacobson, a NATO spokesman in
Kabul, expressed hope today that Pakistan`s cooperation in
resolving the incident in eastern Afghanistan`s Paktia
province signalled the two sides could recover from the recent
tragedy.
"We are continuing operations and it is of great
importance that the incidents of Saturday, as tragic as they
were, do not disrupt our capability to operate in the border
area and cooperate with the Pakistani side," said Jacobson.
The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to
request for comment on the latest incident.
PTI
