JNN 26 Nov 2011  Peshawar : Pakistan has suspended a NATO supply route into Afghanistan following an attack by helicopters belonging to the Western alliance on a military checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, Press  reports.

Dozens of trucks carrying goods and petroleum supplies for NATO forces were stopped in the Torkham border area of the Khyber tribal region in northwestern Pakistan. The Pakistani government ordered its forces in Khyber Agency to stop the movement of the NATO supplies

The retaliatory measure was adopted hours after US-led NATO helicopters opened fire on a military checkpoint in the Baizai area of Mohmand Agency early Saturday, killing 28 Pakistani soldiers, including two officers, and injuring 15 more.

Pakistani officials have condemned the attack as “unprovoked and indiscriminate.”

Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry vehemently condemned the NATO attack, saying the issue will be raised with US officials.

Local media say Pakistan’s acting ambassador to the US has also lodged a protest with Washington over the attack.

At least 28 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and 15 others injured in an attack by a NATO helicopter on the Mohmand Agency in northwestern Pakistan, Press TV reports.

The incident occurred when a NATO helicopter targeted a security forces checkpoint known as Salala near the Afghan border in Pakistan’s northwest early Saturday.

The offensive took place around 2 a.m. (2100 GMT) in the Baizai area of Mohmand. According to Pakistani officials, the check point was destroyed in the attack.

Pakistan’s military slammed the attack as “unprovoked and indiscriminate.”

“NATO helicopters carried out an unprovoked and indiscriminate firing on a Pakistani check post in Mohmand Agency; casualties have been reported and details are awaited,” a Pakistani military spokesman said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the Afghan capital, Kabul, said the alliance was aware that an incident took place and it is still in the process of gathering information.

US-led planes and helicopters have increasingly violated Pakistani airspace over the past months; it is believed the recent attack will worsen strained US-Pakistani relations.

The US claims its air raids target militants who cross the Pakistani border into Afghanistan. But locals say civilians are the main victims of the unauthorized attacks.

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