Pakistan Denies Firing Rockets into Afghanistan

Posted June 27th, 2011 at 12:00 pm (UTC-5)
Leave a comment

Pakistan is denying accusations by neighboring Afghanistan that it is routinely firing missiles into eastern Afghan provinces.

Pakistani army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas Monday said the military has not intentionally fired any rounds into Afghan territory. He says however that he cannot rule out that a few accidental rounds could have been fired across the border by security forces targeting fleeing militants.

Abbas says over the past month there have been five attacks by militants from Afghanistan on Pakistani posts. He says the cross-border attacks have killed 55 paramilitary soldiers and left 80 others wounded in Pakistan's northwest tribal region.

On Sunday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai accused Pakistan of firing 470 rockets into Afghan border provinces over the past three weeks. Mr. Karzai says 36 people, including several children, have died as a result.

President Karzai met with Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani in Kabul on Monday. A statement issued by the Afghan leader's office said Mr. Karzai expressed concerns about the issue and demanded an immediate end to the rocket attacks. General Kayani reportedly told the president that the matter will be investigated.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have long been strained over accusations that each side is not doing enough to curb the flow of militants in the porous border region.

Representatives from the two countries will meet with U.S. officials in Kabul Tuesday for talks that are expected to focus on Afghanistan's reconciliation efforts with the Taliban.

On Monday, the U.S. special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, told reporters in Kabul that the talks will examine ways for Pakistan to become more involved in Afghanistan's peace process.

Grossman also said the meeting will also provide an opportunity to clearly convey the need for Pakistan to stop supporting safe havens of militants who routinely attack NATO and local forces in neighboring Afghanistan.