Pakistani general blames U.S., Afghan forces for surge in rebel attacks in Afghanistan
Pakistani general blames U.S., Afghan forces for surge in rebel attacks in Afghanistan
Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2005 09:00 AM
Associated Press
Sept. 15, 2005 09:00 AM
MIRAN SHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani troops are "covering each inch" of the rugged northwestern border with Afghanistan, a general claimed Thursday, disputing criticism that his country isn't doing enough to keep out militants.
"We have had no reports of anyone crossing (from Pakistan) for many months," Maj. Gen. Mohammed Akram Sahi told reporters shuttled to the scene of what the military called its biggest operation against al-Qaida in the North Wazirstan tribal area.
"The al-Qaida stronghold ... has been eliminated," Sahi said, referring to a reputed al-Qaida hide-out in an Islamic religious school, or madrassa, which security forces overran this week.
He said seven more suspected militants were arrested in the area Thursday, raising the operation's total to 28. None have been publicly identified, but officials say they include foreigners.
Afghanistan's top police official said Thursday that Osama bin Laden is strongly believed to be hiding in Pakistan's tribal regions along the Afghan border after fleeing Afghanistan.
"It isn't possible for him to be (in Afghanistan) because of all the international forces here," Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told reporters, referring a U.S.-led force of 20,000 fighting a rejuvenated Taliban-led insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan and 11,000 NATO troops in the north and west.
Jalali's statement came amid concerns of increased Taliban attacks in Afghanistan ahead of landmark legislative elections there Sunday meant to boost stability after a quarter-century of conflict.
However, Pakistani Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, who is leading thousands of troops in the border hunt for militants, said no senior terror figure such as bin Laden could be in the tribal areas because they have been "so well sanitized" - cleared of militants or their supporters.
An American military spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. James Yonts, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the United States does not know where bin Laden is.
Hussain also blamed a surge in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan ahead of Sunday's vote on a lack of authority by the Afghan National Army and the U.S.-led coalition.
"They have not given the effort to (secure) the east and south that they have to the center and west of Afghanistan," he said. Taliban rebel attacks have been especially numerous in the east and south, much of which border Pakistan.
Hussain said an additional 5,000 Pakistani troops were deployed in July to secure the border, and helicopter surveillance will be carried out along the rugged frontier as the Afghan vote approaches. That deployment adds to more than 70,000 soldiers already on the border.
At the madrassa complex, in an office surrounded by 10-foot-high sandbag barriers and guarded by a half-dozen armed troops on the roof, Sahi showed off large quantities of ammunition, field telephones, machine guns, grenades and army hats and boots confiscated during the raid.
He said Pakistan has 218 army posts along the border in North Wazirstan, compared with 40 run by the U.S. military and Afghan army on the Afghan side in Khost and Paktika provinces.
"We are covering each inch of the area," Sahi said.
U.S. and Afghan officials have said Taliban militants enter Afghanistan through Pakistan's tribal regions. Hussain said that under his command, patrolling along the Afghan border has increased, and troops are in posts every half-mile on the 370-mile section of frontier.
"We consider Afghanistan as a country where stability or instability directly affect the stability of Pakistan," he said, pledging that Pakistan would do all it could to see that the elections are "peaceful and smooth."
In recent operations, security forces shut down four madrassas used for terrorist activities and arrested eight men from a list of 173 - mostly Pakistan clergymen - wanted for involvement in militancy, he said.
Pakistan was a close ally of the Taliban before it switched sides following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and became Washington's ally in the war against terrorism. A U.S.-led military campaign ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.
"We have had no reports of anyone crossing (from Pakistan) for many months," Maj. Gen. Mohammed Akram Sahi told reporters shuttled to the scene of what the military called its biggest operation against al-Qaida in the North Wazirstan tribal area.
"The al-Qaida stronghold ... has been eliminated," Sahi said, referring to a reputed al-Qaida hide-out in an Islamic religious school, or madrassa, which security forces overran this week.
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He said seven more suspected militants were arrested in the area Thursday, raising the operation's total to 28. None have been publicly identified, but officials say they include foreigners.
Afghanistan's top police official said Thursday that Osama bin Laden is strongly believed to be hiding in Pakistan's tribal regions along the Afghan border after fleeing Afghanistan.
"It isn't possible for him to be (in Afghanistan) because of all the international forces here," Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told reporters, referring a U.S.-led force of 20,000 fighting a rejuvenated Taliban-led insurgency in southern and eastern Afghanistan and 11,000 NATO troops in the north and west.
Jalali's statement came amid concerns of increased Taliban attacks in Afghanistan ahead of landmark legislative elections there Sunday meant to boost stability after a quarter-century of conflict.
However, Pakistani Lt. Gen. Safdar Hussain, who is leading thousands of troops in the border hunt for militants, said no senior terror figure such as bin Laden could be in the tribal areas because they have been "so well sanitized" - cleared of militants or their supporters.
An American military spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. James Yonts, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the United States does not know where bin Laden is.
Hussain also blamed a surge in Taliban attacks in Afghanistan ahead of Sunday's vote on a lack of authority by the Afghan National Army and the U.S.-led coalition.
"They have not given the effort to (secure) the east and south that they have to the center and west of Afghanistan," he said. Taliban rebel attacks have been especially numerous in the east and south, much of which border Pakistan.
Hussain said an additional 5,000 Pakistani troops were deployed in July to secure the border, and helicopter surveillance will be carried out along the rugged frontier as the Afghan vote approaches. That deployment adds to more than 70,000 soldiers already on the border.
At the madrassa complex, in an office surrounded by 10-foot-high sandbag barriers and guarded by a half-dozen armed troops on the roof, Sahi showed off large quantities of ammunition, field telephones, machine guns, grenades and army hats and boots confiscated during the raid.
He said Pakistan has 218 army posts along the border in North Wazirstan, compared with 40 run by the U.S. military and Afghan army on the Afghan side in Khost and Paktika provinces.
"We are covering each inch of the area," Sahi said.
U.S. and Afghan officials have said Taliban militants enter Afghanistan through Pakistan's tribal regions. Hussain said that under his command, patrolling along the Afghan border has increased, and troops are in posts every half-mile on the 370-mile section of frontier.
"We consider Afghanistan as a country where stability or instability directly affect the stability of Pakistan," he said, pledging that Pakistan would do all it could to see that the elections are "peaceful and smooth."
In recent operations, security forces shut down four madrassas used for terrorist activities and arrested eight men from a list of 173 - mostly Pakistan clergymen - wanted for involvement in militancy, he said.
Pakistan was a close ally of the Taliban before it switched sides following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and became Washington's ally in the war against terrorism. A U.S.-led military campaign ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.
posted by India News Watch at 7:56 AM
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