03/07/2009
|
More troops man Afghan border
|
|
US starts fresh onset against Afghan Taliban
US military buildup in Afghanistan worries Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army deployed more troops Thursday to a stretch of the Afghan border to stop Taliban militants fleeing a major US onslaught in southern Afghanistan.
Nearly 4,000 US Marines along with 650 Afghan troops moved into Afghanistan's Helmand province early in the day to take on the Taliban in one of their strongholds.
Pakistani and US officials have expressed concern the American troop build-up in southern Afghanistan could push the militants across the mountainous border into Pakistan.
"We've mustered more troops from the other areas of the border" to deploy opposite the Helmand region, Major General Athar Abbas told media persons. "We expected that the effect of this operation would be that the pressure would come on the border. We are rearranging where the pressure is less on the border of crossing. It is sort of a reorganisation and redeployment of the forces."
Abbas declined to give specifics, such as how many troops were being sent to bolster those already along that stretch of the border or exactly how much of the move was coordinated with the United States.
But he added, "It started months ago. The US had indicated that they will be coming to Helmand and the eastern part of Afghanistan. The threat was visualised. The possibility of crossing was visualised. We have addressed it by beefing up the border posts." The 160-mile section opposite Helmand along the 1600-mile Durand Line lies in Balochistan, where US officials believe the Afghan Taliban's top leadership are hiding. Last year, Nato and Pakistani forces cooperated in a series of complementary operations on the border between Afghanistan's Kunar province and the Bajaur region in Pakistan. The operation was praised by Nato commanders, who likened it to a hammer and anvil squeezing the militants. However, it was unclear if the latest troop movement in Pakistan was part of a larger operation involving both sides. Abbas said Pakistan has 1,100 posts along the whole border, with some 60,000 paramilitary and military troops deployed there. Abbas criticised efforts to secure the border on the Afghan side, saying, "The strength of their side is very thin on the border." He said Afghanistan has not accepted Pakistani offers to fence long stretches of the border or put land mines along certain crossings to control the traffic, he said. "What do you expect from us to do? We have more troops on the border. We have more posts on the border. It should be matched at least on the other side. They don't even have 10 per cent of what we have," said Abbas, who extended his criticism to include other Nato forces operating in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Foreign Office has expressed serious concerns over military surge in Afghanistan. The US plans to send some 21,000 more troops in Afghanistan this year to raise troops' number to around 50,000. "We have expressed concern over viz-a-viz military surge in Afghanistan. We have discussions on the issue with the US and coalition partners," Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit said. Basit told weekly briefing that the US and coalition partners will seriously consider Pakistan's concern. "We do not see much infiltration. But we will proceed with our stand," he said, adding that Pakistan will keep on pursuing its position on the issue. The Foreign Office spokesman while urging India to restart composite dialogue process stated that foreign secretaries of Pakistan and India will meet in Sharm el-Sheikh on the sidelines of the summit of Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on July 11-16. He hoped that foreign secretaries meeting before the meeting of Pakistani and Indian leadership would lead to a positive outcome that would result in resumption of talks. Regarding Indian involvement in Balochistan and tribal belt, the spokesman said Pakistan is investigating the matter and it will take up the issue when proper time comes, however, there is no laxity on our part over the issue.-Agencies
|
|