17 May 2011

Maybe, but Rico doubts it

The Voice of America has an article about Syria:
Pakistani officials say NATO helicopters crossed into Pakistan and fired on its troops, wounding two soldiers in an incident that drew a strong protest from the Pakistani military. The attack in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan came amid heightened tensions between the United States and Pakistan, following the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad.
Pakistan's army says troops fired on NATO helicopters after they crossed into Pakistan's northwestern tribal region from neighboring Afghanistan. Two soldiers were wounded when the helicopters returned fire. NATO has confirmed it had helicopters flying near the border, and said it is investigating the incident. A Western military official said the two helicopters were on the Afghan side of the border and were fired on from inside Pakistan. He said the helicopters only fired back after receiving fire twice.
North Waziristan is known to be a hub for Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants who carry out attacks in neighboring Afghanistan. The tribal region repeatedly has been targeted by U.S. drone strikes.
Pakistan's army lodged a protest and demanded a meeting with NATO on the alleged cross-border attack. Pakistan briefly closed the main land route for NATO supplies in Afghanistan after a similar incident last year in which two Pakistani soldiers were killed.
The incident in North Waziristan is likely to add to tensions between Islamabad and Washington, despite a visit Monday by Senator John Kerry meant to repair bilateral relations following the U.S. operation that killed bin Laden.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has warned that any future unilateral actions by the U.S. would carry serious consequences. U.S. officials have questioned how the al-Qaeda leader was able to live in Pakistan for years without being detected.
Kerry said he understands Pakistan's concern about the breach in national sovereignty, but said Islamabad needs to recognize the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the raid targeting bin Laden. The U.S. senator said Pakistan has promised to return the wreckage of a U.S. helicopter damaged in the bin Laden raid. Military officials fear the helicopter's cutting-edge technology could fall into the wrong hands and be replicated elsewhere.
Pakistani police say security forces foiled a major suicide attack in Quetta, the capital of southwestern Baluchistan province. Officials say five militants, including three women, were planning to attack an army checkpoint when police intercepted them. The attackers were killed in the resulting exchange of fire. Authorities say the women were Chechen.
Rico says he'll believe they fired back...

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