Pakistan president says flares fired at NATO chopper

Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari (L) looks over at President George W. Bush during their meeting at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, September 23, 2008.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said his country's forces had fired flares at NATO helicopters in the border area on Thursday to ensure they did not cross into Pakistani territory.

"They are flares, they are flares, just to make sure that they know they have crossed the border line," said Zardari, when asked to comment on helicopters from the NATO-led force in Afghanistan being fired on from a military checkpoint along Pakistan's border.

Speaking to reporters at the beginning of a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Zardari said the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan was often very unclear and so warning flares were sent up.

"Sometimes the border is so mixed (confused) that they don't realize that they have crossed the border line," said Zardari.

Rice agreed with him, saying, "Yes, the border is very, very unclear," adding: "It is one of the most inhospitable places."

The Pentagon said earlier the NATO helicopters were U.S. military aircraft operating inside Afghanistan and that they had at no time crossed into Pakistan.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan said its helicopters were fired on from a Pakistani military checkpoint along the border but that there were no reports of any damage or casualties.

The U.S. military has conducted a number of strikes against Taliban militants inside Pakistan. Pakistan strongly condemned the raids and said it would not tolerate any infringement on its territory.

(Reporting by Sue Pleming, editing by Sandra Maler)