Pakistan army: Shelling from Afghanistan kills 4 troops

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Pakistan army: Shelling from Afghanistan kills 4 troops

By Nahal Toosi, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 26 minutes ago

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.

___

Associated Press Writer Abdul Sattar in Quetta and Ishtiaq Mahsud in Dera Ismail

Khan contributed to this report.