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B-52 drops 500 pound bomb on Pakistani troops
Shooting of U.S. Soldier Led to Bombing

On January 1, 2003 Pakistani Urdu language newspapers (Ummat, Ausaf, Difa', etc) reported the first bombing of Pakistani troops by the U.S. air force on December 31. According to these published reports, a soldier in the Pakistani border scouts unit objected to the activities of U.S. troops searching for al-Qaida on the Pak-Afghan frontier near the village of Shikin.

The Pakistani soldier opened rifle fire on U.S. troops, seriously wounding one U.S. soldier (who has been moved to Germany for treatment). The Pakistani soldier, with a few other of his fellow troops, then took refuge in a building.

The U.S. forces called in a B-52 to bomb the Pakistanis. The B-52 dropped a 500 pound bomb. {Here the news reports stop. There are no indications on what were the results of the bomb explosion.}

The pro-U.S. media ignored the attack or played it down. Other reports indicate that the U.S. dropped several other bombs and one of these hit an Islamic school in the southern Waziristan area of Pakistan.

On January 1, the provincial assembly of Frontier Province unanimously passed a resolution (presented by a Jamiutul Islam representative) condemning the U.S. bombing of the Islamic school. (Source: Daily Jang, January 2)

The Pakistani military has not yet given any details of the 500 pound bomb attack on its troops. Observers say that Pakistan is working with U.S. to issue an appropriate statement.
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2003-01-04 Sat 04:43ct