Pakistani military Friday said that the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have killed 24 Taliban fighters in the Pakistani territory close to the Afghan border.

"During the search, we found 24 dead bodies of those involved in the alleged operation and two destroyed twin-cabin cars," military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan told Pakistan TV.

He said Pakistani troops were not involved in the operation at Lwara Mandi area of Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region. Lwara Mandi is located 90 kilometers south of Miran Shah, the headquarters of North Waziristan.

He said Pakistani forces were put on alert after information was received Friday night that there had been clashes between the coalition and anti-coalition forces.

"The firing and deaths occurred sometimes in the night as the coalition forces had the stand-up capability and to fire in the night, so at a stage during the clash they fired on the Taliban fighters and the casualties took place on our soil," said the spokesman.

Asked if the coalition forces fired missiles in Pakistani territory, Sultan said that it would be determined if the coalition forces violated Pakistani territory or air space, but he added that the people were killed on Pakistani territory.

Pakistan says that 70,000 troops have been deployed in the tribal areas and 669 checkpoints have been established to check illegal cross-border movement.
 
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2005)