NATO helicopters in Afghanistan have reportedly wounded two Pakistani soldiers in a cross-border attack, a day after the US tried to smooth a row over the killing of Osama bin Laden.
The two aircraft opened fire on an army checkpoint in the northwest of Pakistan after they were shot at, a Western military official in Kabul said.
The incident took place in Wacha Bibi, 50km west of Miranshah, the main town in North Waziristan tribal district.
Washington considers the tribal belt a hotbed of al-Qaeda.
‘Two NATO helicopters committed the airspace violation and shelled an army checkpoint, injuring two soldiers,’ a senior local security official said.
The helicopter were said to be coming to the support of a base which was taking fire from across the border of Pakistan.
However, the Pakistani military has often accused the NATO force in Afghanistan of violating Pakistan's air space in the hunt for Taliban who launch attacks before fleeing back across the border into Pakistan.
Pakistan temporarily shut the main land route for NATO supplies into Afghanistan last September after officials accused NATO of killing Pakistani troops in another cross-border attack.
The northwest region is being targeted by a record number of US drone strikes, the number of which has doubled in the last year, with more than 100 strikes killing over 670 people, according to AFP.
