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Two killed as Pak., U.S. forces clash

Washington Jan. 1. Two Pakistanis were killed and an American injured in the first ever border clash between U.S. and Pakistani forces near the Afghan village of Sikhin in which an American F-16 dropped a bomb hitting a Muslim religious school on the Pakistani side, the U.S. military has confirmed.

The gun battle between the U.S. and Pakistani forces began on Sunday when a Pakistani border guard fired on the Americans during a disagreement on a mission being conducted with the Pakistani forces.

``A Pakistani Border Scout opened fire with a G3 rifle after the U.S. patrol asked him to return to the Pakistani side of the border,'' A U.S. military statement said yesterday.

The Americans ended the skirmish by dropping a 500-pound bomb from an F-16 which hit a religious school where the scouts took refuge, killing two of them, Washington Times reported, quoting the statement.

``That individual and several others retreated to a nearby structure. Close air support was requested and one 500-lb bomb was dropped on the target area,'' the statement said, adding one American soldier was injured and two members of the Pakistani Border Scout were killed. Media reports quoted witnesses and local officials as saying that the bomb hit a seminary in Burmol village in South Waziristan tribal area of Pakistan.

The U.S. statement did not give details of the joint U.S.-Pakistani mission or say whether it was taking place inside Afghanistan or Pakistan.

PTI

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