DTN News - PAKISTAN NEWS: Nato Helicopters 'Kill Pakistan Checkpoint Soldiers' - Pakistan Halts Supplies After Nato Kills 25 Troops
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - November 26, 2011: Pakistani officials have accused Nato helicopters of firing on a military checkpoint near Pakistan's Afghan border, killing 25 soldiers.
The "unprovoked and indiscriminate" attack took place in the Pakistani tribal region of Mohmand, the Pakistani military said in a statement.
In response, Pakistan has closed the border crossing for supplies bound for Nato forces in Afghanistan.
Nato said it was aware of "an incident" near the border and was investigating.
The alleged attack took place at the Salala checkpoint, about 1.5 miles (2.5 km) from the Afghan border, Reuters reports, at around 02:00 local time (21:00 GMT).
If confirmed, the attack would further complicate US-Pakistan relations, already under strain following a unilateral US raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May.
Unnamed officials initially put the toll at up to eight, including an army major, but it has since risen.
At least seven soldiers were wounded.
The military gave no official toll, saying casualties were reported but details were awaited.
'Supplies halted'
Masood Kausar, governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, condemned the attack in a statement, reported AFP news agency.
"Such cross-border attacks are unacceptable and intolerable," he said, adding that the government would take up the matter at the highest level and launch a thorough investigation.
In apparent response to the attack, lorries and fuel tankers were being stopped at Jamrud town in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar, officials and local media said.
"We have halted the supplies and some 40 tankers and trucks have been returned from the check post in Jamrud," Mutahir Zeb, a senior government official, told Reuters news agency.
Pakistani troops are involved in fighting the Taliban in the crucial border region area. Hundreds of militants have been resisting attempts by the security forces to clear them from southern and south-eastern parts of the district.
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