January 5, 2003	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 1, 1423

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BAGRAM AIR BASE (Afghanistan), Jan 4: The US military said on Saturday it had refrained from cross-border operations from Afghanistan into war-on-terror ally Pakistan, despite stating recently it could chase hostile forces into Pakistan if needed.

“We actually haven’t crossed the border in pursuit of enemy forces,” Major Steve Clutter told reporters at Bagram.

The military has sought to clarify a Dec 29 incident in which it states an American soldier was wounded when troops came under fire from a Pakistani border guard who they say was inside Afghan territory.

A US warplane dropped a 500-pound bomb at an empty religious school where the assailant took shelter.

The school lies on the Pakistani side of a Pakistani border post, which the US military says has been established 300 meters inside Afghanistan.

The US claims the school is in Afghanistan. The Pakistani military said the bomb fell on Pakistani soil.

“That’s as close as we actually came,” Clutter said about crossing the border.

When asked if US troops had crossed into Pakistan in the past, he said: “The bottom line is, we haven’t done it.”

Clutter strove to downplay the border clash and resultant anger in Pakistan, expressed in a series of anti-American protests on Friday.

“It was a very minor thing,” he said of the clash.

“Pakistan is a very strong ally, it’s been a very stable partner in the war on terrorism.”—AFP