Shots fired in US-Pakistan clash

The United States military says US and Afghan forces have exchanged gunfire with Pakistani troops across the border with Afghanistan.

A senior US military official says a five-minute skirmish broke out after Pakistani soldiers fired warning shots near two US helicopters.

No-one was hurt in the incidents and the US maintains its troops did not cross the border from Afghanistan.

US action along the Pakistan border has raised tensions

Cross-border action by US-led forces has angered Pakistan in recent weeks.

The latest incident took place along the border of the eastern Afghan region of Khost, which is a hotbed of militant groups.

Escorting troops

A US Central Command spokesman, Rear Admiral Greg Smith, said the helicopters had been escorting US troops and Afghan border police when they were fired on by Pakistani troops.

He said that coalition ground forces then fired rounds - not to hit the Pakistani troops, he added, but simply "to make certain that they realised they should stop shooting".

The patrol had been moving about one mile (1.6km) inside Afghanistan, he added.

However, the Pakistani military gave a different account.

In a statement, commanders said troops fired warning shots at the helicopters when they strayed over the Pakistan border.

"When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistani territory, our own security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," a statement said.

"On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back."

In New York, Pakistan's new prime minister gave another version of events when he said that Pakistan forces had fired "flares" to warn the helicopters they were near the border.

Tension between Washington and Islamabad has risen since 3 September, when the US conducted a ground assault in Pakistani territory, its first, targeting what it said was a militant target in the tribal region of South Waziristan.