Pakistan "concerned" by NATO incursion near border (Reuters)

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan said Friday NATO aircraft attacked one of its military posts in the northwest near the Afghan border and it had expressed its serious concern to the U.S. embassy in Islamabad.

The incident in the Mohmand tribal region comes after relations between the United States and its ally hit a new low following the killing of Osama bin Laden by U.S. SEALS in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said NATO aircraft intruded around 2.5 km (1.5 miles) inside Pakistani territory and attacked a military post.

Its statement said Pakistan had conveyed its "serious concern" to the U.S. embassy.

"A joint inquiry of the incident has also been requested," it said, without saying when did the incident took place.

Local officials in Mohmand said it occurred early Friday and that a few bombs were dropped but no casualties were reported.

Pakistan is crucial for the United States in its efforts to stabilize war-ravaged Afghanistan but relations have been seriously damaged since the killing of al Qaeda leader.

The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the raid until after it was over, humiliating the Pakistani armed forces.

U.S. forces have also stepped up attacks on militant targets by remotely piloted drone aircraft in Pakistan's lawless tribal belt on the Afghan border -- dubbed the global hub of militants. Around 66 militants have been killed in such attacks this month.

Pakistan's army in return has drastically cut down the number of U.S. troops allowed in the country and set clear limits on intelligence sharing with the United States.

Pakistan army Friday rejected reports that its security forces tipped off insurgents at bomb-making factories after getting intelligence about the sites in its tribal areas from the United States.

"This assertion is totally false and malicious and the facts on ground are contrary to it," the military said in a statement.

The military said it had received information about four bomb-making factories in Waziristan -- the major sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

While two of them were destroyed, it said, the information about the other two was "incorrect." "Some persons have been arrested and they are under investigation."

Separately, Pakistan Friday summoned the Afghan ambassador in Islamabad to the Foreign Ministry and lodged a protest over a cross-border attack by "100-150 terrorists" on three border villages in Bajaur Thursday.

Pakistani officials in Bajaur said six civilians were killed in the attack, the second such cross-border incursion by militants reported by Pakistani officials this month.

(editing by Alison Williams)

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NATO incursion into Pakistan wounds two troops: officials (Reuters)

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (Reuters) – A NATO helicopter from Afghanistan intruded into Pakistan's North Waziristan region on Tuesday, wounding two troops, local intelligence officials said, adding to tensions between Islamabad and the West.

"It happened early morning," a Pakistani intelligence official in the region, who declined to be identified, told Reuters. "The helicopter hit a Pakistani check post on the border in the Datta Khel area."

Another intelligence official said several Pakistani helicopters took off from Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan, toward the site of the attack. The purpose of the Pakistani mobilization was unclear.

The Pakistani military was immediately unavailable for comment.

Lieutenant-Commander Colette Murphy, a spokeswoman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said in Kabul that the coalition was aware of the reports and looking into them, but had no immediate comment.

North Waziristan is the base of the Haqqani network blamed for the insurgency in eastern Afghanistan. U.S.-led drone aircraft have repeatedly targeted the area over the past year.

Many militants, including foreign fighters loyal to al Qaeda, are based in Datta Khel. It is a stronghold of fighters loyal to Hafiz Gul Bahadur and has been a frequent target of U.S. drone strikes.

Pakistan's Express 24/7 television channel said the checkpost targeted in the latest attack was located right on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It quoted officials as saying that the helicopters were just about to intrude into Pakistani territory when aerial gunshots were fired. They subsequently moved back but fired a retaliatory shot due to which rubble fell from the nearby mountains and wounded the security personnel.

The reported incursion came a day after unmanned U.S. drone aircraft fired missiles in Datta Khel killing 12 militants, Pakistani officials said.

An intelligence official said that one of the dead militants, an Arab, was the son of an al Qaeda operative identified as Abu Kashif. There was no way to verify the death toll. Militants often dispute official accounts of drone attack

Relations between the U.S. and Pakistan have been pushed almost to the breaking point after the secret May 2 raid on Abbottabad that killed Osama bin Laden, embarrassing and humiliating the powerful Pakistani Army and intelligence service.

Before that, in late January, undercover CIA contractor Raymond Davis killed two Pakistanis in Lahore, resulting in a six-week standoff over diplomatic immunity.

A previous incursion on September 30, 2010, killed two Pakistani troops and wounded four more when NATO helicopters crossed the border while pursing insurgents. Pakistan retaliated by shutting down the supply route for NATO troops in Afghanistan.

Washington sees the rugged border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan as a critical battleground against al Qaeda and the Taliban.

(Writing by Chris Allbritton; Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider in Islamabad and Emma Graham-Harrison in Kabul; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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