Pakistan has deployed regular Army and additional paramilitary troops along the border with Afghanistan ostensibly to match the flood of US soldiers on the Afghan side due to fears of an attack on North Waziristan Agency targeting the Haqqani network.
“Regular Army and FC (Frontier Corps) troops have been sent to the border area (with Afghan-istan),” the Chief Army spokesman, Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, said, adding that the personnel had been tasked with “stopping militant atta-cks” from Afghanistan.
Talking to state-run Radio Pakistan, Gen. Abbas said Pakistan will not allow militants to carry out attacks on checkposts and border villages and kill Pakistanis.
“ISAF was informed about these attacks, besides pointing out the location of hideouts of militants, but no action has so far been taken, which may prove that safe havens and bunkers have been destroyed or the militants have fled,” he added. Gen. Abbas said apparently there was no Afghan Army or ISAF presence in the vast area from where militants were operating against Pakistan.
The spokesman said Dir was the most affected by militants and a terrorist group which had fled Swat was involved in these attacks. He said the Army had strengthened all border checkposts and increased troop numbers in Dir.