US in talks with Pakistan over closed supply route: Pentagon

The Pentagon expressed hope that Pakistan would reopen a key supply route for US-led forces in Afghanistan, which Islamabad closed after NATO aircraft staged cross-border raids.

US officials were holding talks with the Pakistanis after Islamabad accused NATO of killing Pakistani troops in the fourth cross-border attack this week, prompting the closure of the main land route for coalition troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

"We are in discussions with the Pakistani government and hope we can resolve the issue through discussion," Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters when asked about the route.

He said it was "too soon" to assess the effect of suspending supply convoys along the Khyber Pass route, which links Peshawar in Pakistan with Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan.

"As you all know we have many different capabilities, routes, ways to resupply, so there's no immediate impact," Lapan said.

US officials were also discussing if procedures and protocols were followed correctly in the recent cross-border incidents, he said.

State Department spokesman Philip Crowley also played down the closing of the supply route and said the border incident was being examined.

"There has been an incident along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. We take seriously our responsibilities as a partner, there's a review ongoing," Crowley told reporters.

NATO said its aircraft entered Pakistani airspace early Thursday in self defense and killed "several armed individuals" after air crews believed they had been fired at from the ground.

But a Pakistan military spokesman in a statement said two helicopters from Afghanistan used cannon fire against an outpost of the Frontier Corps located 200 meters (650 feet) inside Pakistan.

Troops present at the post manned by six soldiers "retaliated through rifle fire to indicate that the helicopters were crossing into our territory," the spokesman said.

ISAF said it had been informed by Pakistani military officials that members of their border forces had been hit by coalition aircraft and said a review was underway "to verify the exact location of the two engagements and the facts".

Lapan said that any rifle fire at the aircraft would likely have been treated as "hostile" fire by the allied forces.