Artillery from Pakistan hits near Afghan base

Reuters:

Artillery shells fired from Pakistan landed in an Afghan army compound and close to an international military base in Afghanistan on Saturday and NATO forces returned fire, the alliance said.

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"An ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) forward operating base and an Afghan National Army compound in northeastern Paktika province were attacked with indirect fire from across the Afghanistan-Pakistan border today," an ISAF statement said. No casualties were reported.

Three artillery rounds landed near the ISAF base and three rounds landed inside an Afghan army compound, it said. "ISAF forces determined the origination of the rounds to be in Pakistan and returned artillery fire in self-defense."

The Pakistani military was notified immediately when ISAF forces came under fire, the statement said. The armies of Pakistan, Afghanistan and ISAF maintain open channels of communication to avoid escalating any conflict.

A suspected Taliban rocket also hit a hospital in the northeastern town of Asadabad close to the Pakistan border on Saturday, killing one man and wounding another man and a woman, provincial Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi said. He said the rocket appeared to have been fired from across the border inside Pakistan.

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Pakistan better get a handle on this situation are it is going to be on the receiving of counter battery fire. With counter battery radar and precision munitions coalition forces can usually respond quickly and effectively. Enemy troops try to compensate for this by popping a few mortar shells and then running.

The fact that they missed their target this time is not that critical to them. They will adjust their fire for the next time they use the same location. Our troops would be wise to keep their dope on the spot and use some harassing and interdiction fire on that location from time to time.