ISLAMABAD (AFP) – The United States apologised on Wednesday for a recent NATO helicopter cross-border strike that killed Pakistani soldiers.
The deadly attack triggered a row between the two allies and Pakistan shut the main land route for NATO supplies into Afghanistan soon afterwards.
Authorities in the northwest said two soldiers died, while a Pakistan military spokesman put the toll at three.
US ambassador to Pakistan Anne Patterson said she was extending an apology on behalf of the American people over the "terrible accident". The statement said two Pakistani Frontier Scouts were killed and four injured.
The incident took place last Thursday in the Kurram district of Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt, which Washington has branded an Al-Qaeda headquarters and a hub for militants fighting in Afghanistan.
The border region is being targeted by a record number of US drone strikes and was reportedly where Al-Qaeda hatched a plot to attack cities in Britain, France and Germany uncovered by Western intelligence agencies.
Patterson said "a joint investigation of the incident had established that the US helicopters had mistaken the Pakistani Frontier Scouts for insurgents they had been pursuing".
"We extend our deepest apology to Pakistan and the families of the Frontier Scouts who were killed and injured," Patterson said in a statement.
"Pakistan?s brave security forces are our allies in a war that threatens both Pakistan and the US."
The ambassador pledged that "the US will coordinate with the government of Pakistan to prevent such tragic accidents from taking place in the future".
In Afghanistan, the US-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said a joint investigation with the Pakistani military concluded that two NATO helicopters passed into Pakistan airspace several times.
"ISAF offers its deepest sympathy and condolences to the families of those killed and wounded, to the Pakistan military, and the people of Pakistan," said US General David Petraeus, commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan.
"We deeply regret this tragic loss of life and will continue to work with the Pakistan military and government to ensure this doesn?t happen again."
ISAF said its helicopters fired on a building later identified as a Pakistan border outpost, in response to shots fired.
"We believe the Pakistani border guard was simply firing warning shots after hearing the nearby engagement and hearing the helicopters flying nearby," said US Air Force Brigadier General Tim Zadalis.
The Pakistani military said two helicopters crossed the border and fired on a Frontier Corps (FC) outpost about 200 metres (650 feet) inside Pakistan.
Six soldiers manning the post "retaliated through rifle fire to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into our territory", it said.
"Instead of heeding to the warning, helicopters went to fire two missiles, destroying the post."
Pakistan condemned air strikes on its territory as a violation of sovereignty and suspended NATO supply trucks crossing into Afghanistan in the northwest Khyber region due to "security reasons".
Khyber is on the main NATO supply route into Afghanistan, where more than 152,000 US and NATO forces are fighting a nine-year Taliban insurgency.
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