Nato attack in Pakistan kills eight troops, says country's military

Helicopters from Afghanistan flew across border in north-west and attacked checkpoint, says Pakistan

Nato helicopters from Afghanistan have intruded into north-west Pakistan and attacked a military checkpoint near the border, killing eight troops and wounding four, Pakistani intelligence officials have said.

Two officials in the region said eight Pakistani troops had been killed and four wounded in the attack on the Salala checkpoint, about one and a half miles (2.5km) from the Afghan border.

A Pakistani military spokesman confirmed the pre-dawn attack in the tribal region of Mohmand and said casualties had been reported.

"Nato helicopters carried out an unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on a Pakistani check post in Mohmand agency, casualties have been reported and details are awaited," the spokesman told Reuters.

The attack took place around 2am in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants.

A spokesman for the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force in Kabul said the coalition was aware of "an incident" and gathering more information.

The attack comes as relations between the United States and Pakistan, its ally in the war on terror, are strained following the killing of the al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by US special forces in a secret raid on the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad in May.


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