Pakistan protests NATO for helicopter strikes

A spokesman for the Pakistan military claimed that NATO violated Pakistan airspace and requested a meeting with NATO officials to discuss the matter.

“It happened early morning,” a Pakistani intelligence official in the region told Reuters. “The helicopter hit a Pakistani check post on the border in the Datta Khel area.”

Western military officials allege that the two helicopters opened fire only after it came under attack.

According to BBC, the two helicopters reportedly were dispatched to a coalition base in Khost province, in eastern Afghanistan, which was under attack. Western military sources claimed that the helicopters than came under fire from across the border in Pakistan.

There are also conflicting reports over whether the NATO helicopter illegally crosses into Pakistani airspace or not.

A spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) stated: ISAF is aware of the incident and is assessing it to determine what happened. This effort will be pursued in a cooperative manner using the border coordination centre partnership.

Pakistan has frequently complained that NATO aircraft have crossed the border from Afghanistan and have sometimes killed or wounded Pakistani soldiers and civilians on the ground. In retaliation, Pakistani authorities have periodically blocked supply routes for NATO forces in Afghanistan.

US drone missiles have also attacked the North Waziristan region, which is believed to be the base of the Haqqani terrorist network, (widely blamed for the insurgency in eastern Afghanistan).