ISLAMABAD - Mortar shells and artillery fired from Afghanistan
killed four Pakistani paramilitary troops in a tribal region Tuesday,
the Pakistani army said. It was the latest in a spate of cross-border
attacks that have raised tensions between Kabul and Islamabad.
Army
spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the Frontier Corps soldiers died
in the Angoor Ada area of South Waziristan, a northwestern region where
the military has fought the Pakistani Taliban. The military relies
heavily on paramilitary troops to police the lengthy, porous border.
Abbas
did not blame any particular faction, but Western forces, Afghan troops
and Taliban militants all operate along various parts of the Afghan
side of the border. There was no immediate response from NATO in Kabul.
In
recent weeks, militants have crossed the frontier on several occasions
and attacked Pakistani villages, leaving dozens of people dead,
according to Pakistani officials. Firing from across the border is also
not unprecedented.
A U.S official in Islamabad said they
were trying to determine whether American or Afghan forces on the other
side of the border could be the source of the fire. The official spoke
on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under
investiation
Islamabad and Kabul have accused each other of
not doing enough to stop militants from slipping across the border,
while Afghanistan has also blamed Pakistan for firing hundreds of
rockets into its territory in recent months that killed dozens of
people.
Elsewhere along the Afghan border, gunmen kidnapped eight Pakistani aid workers, authorities said Tuesday.
The
aid workers were seized late Monday in the Surkhab area of southwestern
Baluchistan province, said local administration official Habibullah
Khan. Police officer Mateen Khan said they had been handing out food to
refugees from Afghanistan.
A separatist insurgency has
wracked Baluchistan for years and incidents of kidnapping for ransom
are common there. Islamist militants are also active in the region.
Earlier this month, a Swiss man and woman were kidnapped, and they have
yet to be recovered. AP
