Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said here Thursday that his country’s security forces fired only warning flares at NATO helicopters to make sure they did not cross the border line.
“They are flares, they are flares, just to make sure that they know they have crossed the border line,” said Zardari, who is in New York attending the annual UN General Assembly meeting.
Earlier Thursday, Pakistan announced that its security forces fired at choppers of NATO forces from Afghanistan when they crossed into the Pakistani territory.
“When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistan territory, our security forces fired anticipatory warning shots. On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back,” said an army statement.
The coalition forces are increasing their missile and drone attacks on targets inside Pakistan in recent month, blaming Pakistan’s local Taliban for rising insurgency in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani side has denounced the cross-border attacks and vowed to open fire if its sovereignty is violated.
