US firing kills four Pakistani villagers

Islamabad: An artillery shell fired by US-led coalition forces at militants in Afghanistan killed four Pakistani villagers across the border, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said five artillery shells fired by coalition forces inside Afghanistan strayed into Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.

One shell hit a home in the village of Kangrai, killing two women and two children, Abbas said.

Pakistan has lodged a "strong" protest with coalition
forces over the incident, which it believes was not intentional, he said.

"They were engaging militants, but five shells landed over here," Abbas told AP.

Coalition military officials were not immediately available to comment.