Afghan fight crosses border, killing 10 Pakistanis

MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, June 23 (Reuters) Ten Pakistani civilians were killed when international forces battling Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan fired across the border into Pakistan, the Pakistani military said today.

Afghanistan's NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said troops clashed with a large group of insurgents near the Pakistani border in Paktika province, killing about 40 of them.

Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said some rockets fired by international forces flew over the border into Pakistan's North Waziristan region during today night battle.

''Some rockets were fired across and landed in our area. They hit a couple of houses and 10 people died, civilians who were living there, and 14 were injured,'' Arshad said.

''We asked for an explanation from the (US) coalition and Afghan authorities and they apologised and said it was inadvertent firing,'' he said.

The fighting was in an area that is a known route for Taliban infiltrating into Afghanistan from Pakistan but Arshad said he had no information about any infiltrators.

Foreign forces battling a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan have been responsible for a spate of civilian deaths in Afghanistan in recent weeks.

In separate violence in North Waziristan, a roadside blast killed three Pakistani paramilitary soldiers and wounded two on Saturday while on patrol 20 km (12 miles) east of Miranshah town.

The attack came four days after an apparent missile attack killed 33 militants at a training camp in the region. Military officials said 23 of the dead were of Arab origin.

Many Taliban and foreign al Qaeda militants fled to North Waziristan after US-led forces toppled Afghanistan's Taliban regime in 2001.

Afghan and the US military say the militants direct their intensified insurgency in Afghanistan, and plot violence elsewhere, from sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the border, including in North Waziristan.

Last September, the government struck a peace deal in North Waziristan aimed at marginalising foreign militants but critics said the pact created a sanctuary for militants.

Nevertheless, the level of violence in North Waziristan has fallen sharply since then, and militant attacks on Pakistani troops have been rare.

REUTERS SR RN2110