US ’copters violate Pak airspace

US ’copters violate Pak airspace
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-->By Mushtaq YusufzaiPESHAWAR: US helicopter gunships violated Pakistan’s air space for the second time in less than a week by intruding at least five kilometres inside the restive North Waziristan tribal agency on Wednesday, residents and officials told The News.Two helicopter gunships crossed the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Lowara Mandi town of North Waziristan. “Both the choppers came at around 9:45 a.m. and returned to Afghanistan after flying over the town for 15 minutes,” an eyewitness told this scribe by telephone from the area. He said it created panic among the residents of the Pakistani border town. Sources said the Pakistani security forces deployed in the area did not retaliate. According to local tribesmen, it was the second time that the US military violated Pakistan’s air space. “Two American B-52 aircraft entered the same town at around 3:15 a.m. in the wee hours of Sunday, and flew over the town for five minutes,” a resident said.When approached, Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj-Gen Waheed Arshad said he did not have any information of air space violation but argued that sometime when operation against the Taliban is going on inside Afghanistan close to the Pakistani border the coalition forces mistakenly enter our territory.“Since the border is not well-defined there and then the area is mountainous, therefore, they sometime cross the border but it has never been a deliberate attempt,” said Maj-Gen Waheed.