PAKISTAN: Pakistani forces say they have choked off Taliban on the border with Afghanistan

Pakistani forces have choked off Taliban insurgent infiltration into Afghanistan from a violence-plagued border region, a Pakistani army commander said on Wednesday (April 11). U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan are bracing for a Taliban surge as the weather warms up, and Pakistan has been facing a chorus of calls to stop the militants launching attacks from sanctuaries in tribal areas on its side of the border. But the commander of Pakistani forces in the militant-infested South Waziristan region said his men had virtually sealed the frontier. "No regular movement takes place between South Waziristan and the Bermel area of Afghanistan, I'm very clear on that," Major-General Gul Muhammad told reporters on a military-organised trip to the region. "If someone proves it with any satellite imagery, I am responsible," he said. Muhammad also said Pakistani tribesmen had cleared foreign al Qaeda-linked militants from strongholds near South Waziristan's main town after several weeks of bloody battles. Last year, the Taliban infiltrated large areas of eastern and southern Afghanistan and mounted their most sustained stand against Afghan government troops and their foreign allies since the hardline Islamists were ousted in 2001. Fighting traditionally tails off over the winter but the Taliban have been vowing a fresh surge in their campaign to oust the 45,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan when the weather warms up, as it is now doing. As security has deteriorated in Afghanistan, calls have mounted for Pakistan to do more to stop the Taliban using sanctuaries on the Pakistani side of the border, and to crack down on the Islamist networks supporting the rebels. But another Pakistani officer rejected suggestions the Taliban and al Qaeda were operating out of Waziristan, and said Afghanistan and its allies had to do more to improve security on their side of he border. "No, there are no al Qaeda training camps here, and there are no Taliban training camps, let me say that. As I said earlier the problem of Taliban lies in Afghanistan," said military spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad, adding: "Yes, there is some support from Pakistan. We're trying to ensure this support doesn't go across." Reporters visiting the region were taken from the main town of Wana, where the military has its regional headquarters, to a post on a hill at Sholam, overlooking the flat, sun-baked Wana Valley, fringed by distant mountains. The valley appeared virtually lifeless after weeks of fighting between Pakistani tribesmen and foreign militants. A few children were standing outside a mud-walled home and half a dozen sheep picked over the rocky ground looking for tufts of fodder. The Pakistani fighters began battling the foreigners, most of them Uzbeks, early last month after the foreigners tried to kill a tribal leader. More than 200 people have been killed, most of them foreign militants, the government says. The Pakistani military says its forces have not been involved Muhammad said the tribesmen had driven the foreigners from several strongholds towards the Afghan border, quipping: "if people don't want foreigners, how can they stay here?" But he said there would be no quick victory over the militants, many of whom fled to Pakistan after U.S.-led forces ousted the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2001. "It may not be simple and easy to achieve and will require sacrifices. No foreigner can stay in the area once the 'qaum' (nation) is united for a common cause. This conflict will take time to finish, we need to be patient to see the results," he said. He said it was an indigenous movement, "a home-grown affair" which was picking up momentum.

ITN Source | April 12, 2007

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