Captain03
SENIOR MEMBER
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 1,244
- Reaction score
- 0
Pakistan drives Taliban into trap - GEO.tv
LAHORE: Afghanistan and Pakistan’s ongoing military offensive in the Tribal Areas is chasing Taliban across the border, where they are being intercepted by a United States-Afghan security initiative, a US commander said, according to a report in a leading U.S. daily on Friday.
The level of violence over the past couple of months in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan has risen significantly from the same period last year, and is expected to increase another 10 to 20 percent in the spring, largely because of the results of operations across the border in Bajaur Agency, US Army Colonel John Spiszer told the newspaper.
Although Pakistan’s commitment to the campaign against terrorists has been questioned and some Pakistani troops are reported to have been redeployed to the eastern border with India, the Bajaur campaign was having an impact, Spiszer said.
“Pakistani pressure has denied [the insurgents] safe havens and led to more contact in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that an increase of Afghan security forces in the region also has contributed to a rise in hostile engagements this winter. “And that´s not a bad thing.”
Spiszer said the trend is likely to continue as additional US forces are deployed to help secure the mountainous terrain that divides the two countries.
Of the 3,500 to 4,000 troops from the 3rd Combat Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, scheduled to deploy in January, roughly 500 will help stabilise his area of operations, which also includes Nangarhar and Laghman provinces, he said. In the near term, a joint initiative known as Operation Lion Heart is under way to better coordinate counterinsurgency efforts on both sides of the border through intelligence sharing and border interdiction, the report said.
Spiszer said the initiative is “less about synchronicity and more complementary”, with commanders exchanging tactical information daily to prevent insurgents from re-supplying and transiting unchecked through traditional filter points.
LAHORE: Afghanistan and Pakistan’s ongoing military offensive in the Tribal Areas is chasing Taliban across the border, where they are being intercepted by a United States-Afghan security initiative, a US commander said, according to a report in a leading U.S. daily on Friday.
The level of violence over the past couple of months in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan has risen significantly from the same period last year, and is expected to increase another 10 to 20 percent in the spring, largely because of the results of operations across the border in Bajaur Agency, US Army Colonel John Spiszer told the newspaper.
Although Pakistan’s commitment to the campaign against terrorists has been questioned and some Pakistani troops are reported to have been redeployed to the eastern border with India, the Bajaur campaign was having an impact, Spiszer said.
“Pakistani pressure has denied [the insurgents] safe havens and led to more contact in Afghanistan,” he said, adding that an increase of Afghan security forces in the region also has contributed to a rise in hostile engagements this winter. “And that´s not a bad thing.”
Spiszer said the trend is likely to continue as additional US forces are deployed to help secure the mountainous terrain that divides the two countries.
Of the 3,500 to 4,000 troops from the 3rd Combat Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, scheduled to deploy in January, roughly 500 will help stabilise his area of operations, which also includes Nangarhar and Laghman provinces, he said. In the near term, a joint initiative known as Operation Lion Heart is under way to better coordinate counterinsurgency efforts on both sides of the border through intelligence sharing and border interdiction, the report said.
Spiszer said the initiative is “less about synchronicity and more complementary”, with commanders exchanging tactical information daily to prevent insurgents from re-supplying and transiting unchecked through traditional filter points.
