Pakistani authorities are investigating claims by residents of a remote border village that NATO and Afghan forces crossed into Pakistan to search for suspected Taliban militants and killed a local tribesman, officials said on Thursday. Afghan troops entered the village of Qamar Din on Wednesday morning and began shooting, killing one villager, said Balochistan government spokesman Abdul Raziq Bugti, citing claims by residents. Villagers reported that the Afghan border security forces also wounded two Pakistani tribesmen and detained 11 villagers who were taken to Afghanistan, Bugti said.
The government has ordered authorities in the area to investigate the alleged incident in the village, about 210 kilometres northeast of Quetta, he said. Maulvi Mohammed Sharif, district nazim of Zhob where Qamar Din is located, said on Thursday that NATO forces also entered Qamar Din along with the Afghan government troops, citing reports by villagers and security officials. Interior Minister Aftab Khan Sherpao said he had read about the incident in newspapers but had no confirmation of it. Military and Foreign Ministry officials were not immediately available for comment. In Kabul, Lt Col Angela Billings, a spokeswoman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force, said it was aware of a “number of incidents” in the border area of Balochistan, Zhob and Qamar Din. “The incidents are under investigation and there are no specific details available at this time,” she said. Earlier, ISAF said none of its forces were involved. The Urdu-language newspaper Jang, citing villagers, said NATO and Afghan troops riding in three pickup trucks and three armoured personnel carriers entered Qamar Din on Wednesday morning and began firing heavy and small weapons at several homes, killing one villager. |