WANA, Pakistan - U.S. warplanes taking part in the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan (news - web sites) dropped three bombs that landed about 50 yards inside Pakistani territory on an empty field, residents and Pakistani intelligence officials said Friday.


No one was injured in the incident Thursday near the border town of Wana, 240 miles southwest of Islamabad.


Three Pakistani intelligence officials, all who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they believed the U.S. forces were targeting Taliban militants, who often take refuge on the Pakistani side of the border. U.S. forces do not have permission to pursue them across the frontier.


A U.S. Embassy spokesman said he had no information about a bombing on Pakistani territory. U.S. military officials at Bagram air base, the main military headquarters north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, had no immediate comment.


A Pakistani military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said he was unaware of the incident. However, he added that if the bombing did occur, Islamabad would consider it an unintentional attack and would not complain.


Residents in Wana say they often see U.S. planes flying on the Afghan side of the border. The villagers said the three bombs caused no damage.


U.S. bombs have occasionally fallen on the Pakistani side since U.S.-led forces began their campaign in Afghanistan in late 2001. On Aug. 11, two Pakistani soldiers were killed during a U.S. air attack.


Pakistani troops on their side of the border are hunting for remnants of the Taliban and al-Qaida, and are trying to prevent them from crossing into Afghanistan.




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