Following persistent and widespread speculation in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and theFederally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan about a bloody clash between US and Pakistani forcesnear the border of Afghanistan with the FATA, reports from Washington DC quoted the Pentagon as havingconfirmed that a clash, but of a minor nature, did take place on December 29, 2002, near the Afghanvillage of Sikhin in which two Pakistanis were killed and an American was injured. During the clash, anAmerican F-16 dropped a bomb hitting a madrasa (Muslim religious school) in the South Waziristan area of theFATA in Pakistani territory.