Topic: Pakistani Troops Fire At Afghans Along Fence

New York Times
April 20, 2007
Pg. 8

By Associated Press
The Afghan Defense Ministry said its troops were fired on by Pakistani forces as the Afghans tried to remove a fence near Bermal in Paktika Province, a border hot spot for Taliban operations. Afghan troops returned fire, it said. A senior Pakistani military official said Pakistani troops had fired warning shots at Afghan soldiers who tried to enter Pakistan from the Bermal area and denied that any part of the fence had been removed. There were no reports of casualties. Under pressure from the United States, Pakistan is fencing what it says are insurgent infiltration routes along the common border. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has dismissed the fence as a distraction from the issue of militant safe havens on Pakistani soil.