MokroMike II
01-01-03, 15:26
BRON: CNN.COM
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A U.S. jet dropped a 500-pound precision-guided bomb to end a clash between U.S. soldiers and Pakistani border guards this week, U.S. military officials said.
A U.S. soldier was shot and wounded during the incident, which occurred Sunday near Shkin in eastern Afghanistan, a report by American Forces Press Service said. A U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Steve Clutter, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying it was unknown how many Pakistanis might have been killed.
U.S. soldiers were observing Pakistani border guards destroy inert missiles found in the area. The border in the region is in dispute, but U.S. officials said the American soldiers were within Afghan territory.
According to officials, one of the border guards approached the U.S. patrol and was asked by the American soldiers to return to his side of the boundary.
The officials say that as he began to walk back, the Pakistani border guard turned, dropped to one knee and fired on the Americans, wounding a U.S. soldier. The soldier was grazed on the head by AK-47 automatic rifle fire, officials said.
After the border guard ran into a nearby abandoned religious school, U.S. soldiers said they took more fire from the building and called in close-air support.
An AV-8B Harrier jet dropped the precision-guided bomb on the building, according to the report.
Officials said the border guard who shot the U.S. soldier is in Pakistani custody.
Brig. Saulat Raza, a Pakistani armed forces spokesman, said "We are investigating the incident."
Previously, the incident was described as an exchange of enemy gunfire. American officials said U.S. and Pakistani troops continue to work closely together to patrol the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The wounded U.S. soldier was transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for further examination and neurological testing, a statement said. His condition is listed as stable.
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A U.S. jet dropped a 500-pound precision-guided bomb to end a clash between U.S. soldiers and Pakistani border guards this week, U.S. military officials said.
A U.S. soldier was shot and wounded during the incident, which occurred Sunday near Shkin in eastern Afghanistan, a report by American Forces Press Service said. A U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Steve Clutter, was quoted by The Washington Post as saying it was unknown how many Pakistanis might have been killed.
U.S. soldiers were observing Pakistani border guards destroy inert missiles found in the area. The border in the region is in dispute, but U.S. officials said the American soldiers were within Afghan territory.
According to officials, one of the border guards approached the U.S. patrol and was asked by the American soldiers to return to his side of the boundary.
The officials say that as he began to walk back, the Pakistani border guard turned, dropped to one knee and fired on the Americans, wounding a U.S. soldier. The soldier was grazed on the head by AK-47 automatic rifle fire, officials said.
After the border guard ran into a nearby abandoned religious school, U.S. soldiers said they took more fire from the building and called in close-air support.
An AV-8B Harrier jet dropped the precision-guided bomb on the building, according to the report.
Officials said the border guard who shot the U.S. soldier is in Pakistani custody.
Brig. Saulat Raza, a Pakistani armed forces spokesman, said "We are investigating the incident."
Previously, the incident was described as an exchange of enemy gunfire. American officials said U.S. and Pakistani troops continue to work closely together to patrol the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The wounded U.S. soldier was transferred to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for further examination and neurological testing, a statement said. His condition is listed as stable.