Pakistan on Thursday vehemently protested Thursday to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan authorities over a border clash that left one Pakistani soldier dead, according to dpa. Afghan troops pursuing Taliban militants in the rugged border area crossed into Bajaur tribal district on Wednesday and also engaged a Pakistani border post, killing one paramilitary soldier and injuring another. "We emphasised that military action on Pakistan side is the exclusive responsibility of Pakistani forces," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq told journalists during a weekly press briefing in Islamabad on Thursday. A message had been conveyed to the Afghan and ISAF side that "such incidents must not be repeated," Sadiq said. Before crossing over into Pakistan, the Afghan forces killed 10 Taliban militants who had attacked their outpost in the Nawa Pass area in eastern Kunar province. The remainder fled to Pakistan. Pakistan's tribal areas are believed to have sanctuaries for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who launch cross border attacks on NATO-led international forces and Afghan security personnel. The government in Islamabad has deployed more than 90,000 troops in the region to contain the activities of militants but have failed to stop the cross border infiltration, prompting Washington to warn that its forces might take actions against militants on Pakistani territory. The country has also offered to fence selected parts of the more than 2,500 kilometre border with Afghanistan but the proposal was widely criticized by the international community and the Afghan government.
