UAV crash led to clash on Pak-Afghan border

AP - WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 05, 2005 11:20:09 PM

KABUL: A clash on the Afghan-Pakistan border that killed a Pakistani soldier was triggered by the crash of an unmanned American spy plane in an area where Osama bin Laden may be hiding, officials said on Wednesday.

Afghan and Pakistani military officials initially blamed each other for starting Sunday’s exchange of artillery and mortar fire near the Pakistani town of Miran Shah, in which one Pakistani soldier died and two others were seriously wounded.

But officials said that the crash of the reconnaissance drone may have sown confusion which led to the skirmish.

An official with the US-led force in Afghanistan said a team was sent to the crash site to destroy the wreckage. The explosion caused one side to fire and then the other side fired back, the official said on condition of anonymity.

American warplanes were sent to the area to calm both sides down, the official said.

But a Pakistani intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that a US helicopter had opened fire on Pakistani soldiers who were gathering the wreckage of the downed plane, killing one of them, and sparking the exchange.

The official from the US-led coalition said she had no information on any American planes opening fire. She said it was possible that the drone had crashed in Pakistani territory and that the team sent to the site had crossed the border.

The incident happened near Afghanistans Khost province and the North Waziristan tribal agency on the Pakistani side of the poorly demarcated and often disputed border.

Pakistani officials have said the unmanned plane came down late on Saturday near a village called Ghulam Khan.