January 1, 2003	Wednesday	Shawwal 27, 1423

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BAGRAM, Dec 31: A US warplane bombed an abandoned religious school in the Pakistani territory after a gunbattle between the US and Pakistani troops on the border with Afghanistan, Pakistan officials said on Tuesday.

The US military said that one of its soldiers was wounded in Afghanistan on Sunday in an exchange of gunfire with a Pakistani border guard. A Pakistani official said two border guards were also injured.

The wounded American was part of a unit conducting a mission with the Pakistani forces along the Afghan border when a disagreement appeared to break out, according to a statement released by the US military at their Afghan headquarters at Bagram air base.

“A Pakistani border scout opened fire with a G3 rifle after the US patrol asked him to return to the Pakistan side of the border,” the statement said.

“That individual and several others retreated to a nearby structure,” it added. “Close air support was requested and a 500-lb bomb was dropped on the target area.”

Mohammad Khurshied, a local official in the South Waziristan tribal area, later told Reuters that a seminary in Angor Adda had been hit by the US warplanes.