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Pakistan raising new force to combat terror
Peshawar, Pakistan, Aug 20: Pakistan is raising a new force with the help of the United States to intensify its war on terror networks, a senior government official said today.
Peshawar, Pakistan, Aug 20: Pakistan is raising a new force with the help of the United States to intensify its war on terror networks, a senior government official said today.
A first batch of more than 40 officers from the new ''Special
Investigation Group'' (SIG) will graduate next month after a three
months of training.
''This is going to be a highly specialised and hi-tech force to track down terrorists and investigate acts of terrorism," the official told.
Pakistan, a key ally in Washington's war on terror, has arrested hundreds of militants from Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and from the al Qaeda network blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
But lately, it has faced growing accusations from officials of the US-backed government in Afghanistan that it has allowed Taliban guerrillas to regroup in Pakistan and orchestrate attacks on US and Afghan forces, a charge Islamabad denies.
The Pakistani official said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was closely associated in the creation of the special force.
Pakistan saw a string of attacks on western and Christian targets after it threw its weight behind the US-led war on terror that toppled the Taliban in late 2001.
Bureau Report
''This is going to be a highly specialised and hi-tech force to track down terrorists and investigate acts of terrorism," the official told.
Pakistan, a key ally in Washington's war on terror, has arrested hundreds of militants from Afghanistan's former Taliban regime and from the al Qaeda network blamed for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
But lately, it has faced growing accusations from officials of the US-backed government in Afghanistan that it has allowed Taliban guerrillas to regroup in Pakistan and orchestrate attacks on US and Afghan forces, a charge Islamabad denies.
The Pakistani official said the US Federal Bureau of Investigation was closely associated in the creation of the special force.
Pakistan saw a string of attacks on western and Christian targets after it threw its weight behind the US-led war on terror that toppled the Taliban in late 2001.
Bureau Report