ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — U.S. helicopters flew into Pakistan’s militant-infested border region but returned to Afghanistan after troops and tribesmen opened fire, intelligence officials said Monday. Washington denied the account.
The alleged incident late Sunday may raise rifts between the United States and a key ally against terrorism days after a truck bomb struck a hotel Saturday in Islamabad, killing 53 people.
Late Monday, Dubai-based TV channel al-Arabiya said it received a tape from a shadowy group calling itself “Fedayeen Al-Islam” — Arabic for “Islam commandos” — claiming responsibility for the bombing and urging Pakistan to end cooperation with the U.S.
Pakistan is under growing U.S. pressure to act against al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents sheltering in its border region and blamed for rising attacks on coalition troops in Afghanistan and suicide bombings in Pakistan.
A series of suspected U.S. missile strikes into the region and a Sept. 3 raid by U.S. commandos said to have killed 15 people have highlighted U.S. impatience and angered Pakistanis.
Two intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to speak to the media, that two U.S. helicopters crossed a mile into Pakistan in the Alwara Mandi area in North Waziristan on Sunday.
Citing informants in the field, they said Pakistani troops and tribesmen responded with small arms fire, but it was not clear whether it was aimed at the choppers or just warning shots.
