(dpa) -
Up to 10 Taliban militants and one Pakistani paramilitary soldier was killed
Wednesday in clashes on the border with Afghanistan, the military said.
"Miscreants (Taliban) attacked the check post at Daud Qilla on the Afghan
side of the border in the wee hours of the morning," a statement from
army's Inter-Services Public Relations Department said. "Reportedly, 8-10
miscreants were killed and the rest disengaged."
Following the attack, Afghan troops pursued the Taliban into Pakistan's tribal district of Bajaur Agency, where a border clash between them and Pakistan forces was ensued.
"At 1100 hours local time (06:00 GMT) Afghan National Army troops
approached our post at Nawa Pass in search of miscreants. They were informed
neither (about whether) the miscreants had come towards our check post, nor
(whether) they were firing from that location," the Pakistani military
said.
"Due to misunderstanding, some exchange of fire took place between Afghan
National Army troops and the Frontier Corps troops on the border," the
statment said. One soldier Frontier Corps soldier was killed and other wounded.
Local commanders of the two countries' border security forces were meeting to
resolve the issue.
Local media reported that following the fighting NATO planes bombarded the
area, resulting in the deaths of at least four civilians, Pakistan's Aaj news channel reported.
However, army spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas denied the report, saying the
NATO planes entered Pakistani territory but did not attack. "We have no
information that anybody was killed by a NATO bombardment on our soil," he
told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
Pakistan's tribal region is believed to provide safe havens for Taliban and
al-Qaeda terrorists who fled to the area after US invaded Afghanistan in 2001.
With the support of local militants, they launch cross border attacks on
NATO-led international forces in Afghanistan.