Tension is increasing along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan and the US crosses the border to launch more attacks on Pakistani militants. On Thursday, September 24th there was another altercation on the border of Afghanistan between Pakistani and American ground troops. The fire began after the Pakistani's fired shots at two American helicopters. However, the helicopters were not damaged, and no one was killed. There is much disagreement between the Americans and Pakistani's about what else happened.
American and NATO officials say that the US helicopters were flying a mile inside Afghanistan when they were fired at, protecting the American and Afghan ground troops. Then in response the American troops only fired back a warning shot before the Pakistani military fired back.
However, Pakistani officials report something different. They say that Pakistan fired warning shots at the American aircrafts who were flying into the Pakistani territory, and the helicopters fired back and then left. They didn't say anything about ground fire.
Residential witnesses said that one helicopter was hovering in Afghanistan, but the other was a mile into the Pakistani territory. One resident claimed that they were scared when they fired the warning shots at the helicopters that the Americans would fire back, however the warning shots sent them back over the border of Afghanistan, so they were glad they fired the warning shots in the first place.
When the Pakistani president was talking with Condaleeza Rice over the issue, he again ensured that the beginning shots were only flares to send the helicopters back across the border. They both agreed that the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan was very unclear.
However, US officials at the Pentagon still disagree that the helicopters over flew their boundaries in the first place.
I think this incident foreshadows that there is a serious risk involved about the misunderstanding on the border of Pakistan. US troops still say their goal is to aim at the Taliban and Al Queda troops inside Pakistan. However, I believe that Pakistan is right when they say that the US didn't have any consent to enter Pakistan between the governments, and that is not allowed. I'm not sure which side is correct in this incident about if the US aircraft crossed the border or not, but I believe that after the US crossed the border the first time without permission, it has caused the Pakistani people to be skeptical of whether or not they will continue to do it.
Brittney Nicola
9/26/2008
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/world/asia/26military.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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