US carrier moves from Gulf to back up Afghan operations

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Alarm bells in Fata over Nato troop build-up
By Our Correspondent

MIRAMSHAH, July 15: Reports of a build-up of US-led forces in eastern Afghan provinces along the border with North and South Waziristan tribal regions have raised fears of a possible encounter in the area with the Taliban.

Local people said on Tuesday that the troops, backed by helicopter gunships, tanks and armoured personnel carriers, had been moved close to the border villages of Lawara, Mir Saffar, Shawal, Zhawar and Ghulam Khan in Waziristan.

(However, a Pakistani military spokesman denied there was any unusual troop movement along the border. He said that Nato forces might be gathering for an operation on the Afghan side. “There may be some operational movement of these forces in Afghanistan,” AFP quoted the spokesman as saying.)

According to reports reaching here from across the border, the allied forces were being airlifted to the Saro Bagh area of Afghanistan’s Khost province. They have started building bunkers and fortifying their positions in the border areas for a possible showdown with the militants.

Sources said that helicopters had increased surveillance flights and APCs and tanks were stationed in different areas to provide cover to troops.

Officials said that security had been beefed up in Pakistan’s tribal areas and troops had been asked to remain alert to meet any eventuality.

Meanwhile, tribal elders have warned that the US-led forces will get a befitting response if they tried to cross into the tribal areas.

Alarm bells in Fata over Nato troop build-up -DAWN - Top Stories; July 16, 2008

 

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US, Nato term situation in Pakistan dysfunctional

By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON, July 15: Pakistan’s controls on its border with Afghanistan are a “real concern” for the US, the State Department said after an attack two days ago killed nine American soldiers at a camp near the frontier.

Meanwhile, a Pentagon news agency — the American Armed Forces Press Service — quoted US and Nato officials as describing the situation in Pakistan “dysfunctional”.

“There is a deep concern about cross-border infiltration from Pakistan into Afghanistan and then back over the border,” spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing in Washington on Monday.

The State Department spokesman, however, rejected the suggestion that those who killed nine US soldiers in Kunar on Sunday were linked to Kashmiri groups operating from Pakistan.

“I don’t know any connection between the fire-fight yesterday and that report,” said Mr McCormack while referring to a report which says the Kashmiris were involved in Sunday’s attack.

The United States believes that Pakistan’s policy of holding talks with militants in the tribal areas has led to increased attacks by Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan.

Twenty-eight coalition soldiers were killed in June in the deadliest month for the force in Afghanistan since the conflict began there in 2001. Terrorist incidents in eastern Afghanistan were 50 per cent higher in April than the same month in 2007, according to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

At the State Department briefing, Mr McCormack said that fighting terrorists in the tribal areas was also important for Pakistan because they pose a threat to Pakistan’s security as well. “It’s fundamental to the security of both of those countries, because you have people operating out of Pakistan that pose a threat to Afghanistan,” he said.

“Ultimately, too, let’s remember that those kinds of groups, those kinds of individuals aren’t necessarily content to direct their energies outwardly, and they pose a real threat to Pakistan and the Pakistani people as well.”

Mr McCormack, however, noted that Pakistan understands the importance of engaging in the counterterrorism fight and has conveyed its commitment to the Americans.

The United States, he said, raises these issues in closed-door meetings with the Pakistanis and does so more forcefully. “I don’t want to get into specifics. I’ll leave that for closed-door diplomacy. But it is a real concern for us,” he said.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters that Nato and US officials are working with the army and government representatives in Pakistan to address the situation inside Fata.

“There have been a number of discussions in recent weeks, and I suspect those will continue as we try to address the border region in a comprehensive way,” Mr Whitman said. “It has many facets to it, and we are looking to address it on all of those levels that we can.”

In a report posted on the Pentagon website, the American Armed Forces Press Service quoted US Defence Department officials as saying that Pakistan’s tribal areas have been used by Taliban extremists to regroup and plan attacks on Nato and Afghan National Army bases.
US, Nato term situation in Pakistan dysfunctional -DAWN - Top Stories; July 16, 2008

 

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US to investigate Afghan charges, says Bush

By Anwar Iqbal

WASHINGTON, July 15: US President George W. Bush said on Tuesday that the United States would investigate US-installed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s charge that Pakistani intelligence services were involved in a series of terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan.

At a nationally televised news conference, Mr Bush also endorsed the Afghan claim that Al Qaeda has entrenched itself in Pakistan.

“First of all, we’ll investigate his charge and we’ll work with his service to get to the bottom of his allegation,” said Mr Bush when asked for comments on Mr Karzai’s allegations.

Although the Afghan government has also implicated Pakistan in last week’s attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul, Mr Bush did not quote any specific incident in his news conference. Instead, he pointed out that extremists hiding in Pakistan’s tribal areas were entering Afghanistan for carrying out attacks.

“No question, however, that some extremists are coming out of parts of Pakistan into Afghanistan. … Al Qaeda is — they’re there,” he said. “And that’s troubling to us, it’s troubling to Afghanistan, and it should be troubling to Pakistan. We share a common enemy.”President Bush did not implicate Pakistani government agencies in the attacks but he reminded Pakistani rulers that the extremists were as much a threat to them as to the Afghans.

Such extremists, he said, used violence to either disrupt democracy or prevent democracy from taking hold.

The United States, he said, had been fighting the extremists with Pakistan’s help and would continue to do so. “We have hurt Al Qaeda hard -— hit them hard and hurt them around the world, including in Pakistan,” he said. “And we will continue to keep the pressure on Al Qaeda with our Pakistan friends.”

Mr Bush said he hoped that that the government understood the dangers of extremists moving in their country. “I think they do. As a matter of fact, we’ll have an opportunity to explore that further … with the prime minister of Pakistan” when he visits the White House later this month.

“Pakistan is an ally. Pakistan is a friend. And I repeat all three countries — the United States, Pakistan and Afghanistan — share a common enemy.”

Mr Bush recalled hosting a dinner for President Karzai and President Pervez Musharraf at the White House in September 2006 when relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan were very tense and noted that the meeting led to a better coordination between America’s two key allies in the war against terror.

“I remember very well the meeting I had at the White House with President Musharraf and President Karzai, and we talked about the need for cross- border cooperation to prevent dangerous elements from training and coming into Afghanistan — and then, by the way, returning home with a skill level that could be used against the government,” he said. “And, you know, there was some hopeful progress made. Obviously, it’s still a tough fight there.”

Referring to the defeat of religious parties in the NWFP in the February election, Mr Bush said: “We were heartened by the provincial elections in that part of the world.”

The United States, he said, would continue to work to help the Pakistan government to deal with extremists and have an effective counter-insurgency strategy that used aid to foster economic development.

“And that’s a challenge. And the three of us working together can deal with the challenge a lot better than if we don’t work together,” he concluded.

US to investigate Afghan charges, says Bush -DAWN - Top Stories; July 16, 2008