Islamabad, June 24: Pakistani troops have secured almost all passes in a sensitive northwestern tribal region on the border with Afghanistan to block infiltration of al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives, following clashes with a small pocket of resistance, government and military officials said today. One Pakistani soldier was killed and another wounded in an exchange of fire with some resisting tribesmen yesterday when troops were deployed in Mohmand tribal region in an operation coordinated with US and Afghan forces active on the Afghan side.
Some 2,000 Pakistani troops, border scouts and tribal militias were mobilised to the Mohmand border while around 500 US and Afghan troops are on the afghan side to block cross-border routes used by extremists to launch attacks. "We have secured seven out of eight passes in the Mohmand and there is some resistance at just one pass," interior secretary Tasneem Noorani said.
Noorani said negotiations were underway with the resisting tribesmen through a tribal jirga (council) in order to resolve the problem. He said one of the objectives of the operation was to fully secure the western border and remove the impression that there were still some "soft areas," that enabled fugitives to enter Pakistani territory from the Afghan side.
Military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan also said the border had been satisfactorily secured. Bureau Report