Pakistan has tightened security along its border with Afghanistan in an attempt to prevent Afghan refugees and fleeing militants from entering the country, a government spokesman said. Pakistan took the move based on intelligence reports that large numbers of people traveling in cars were heading toward the border, Rashid Quereshi, the spokesman of the military-led government, told reporters.
There is also a large scale movement from northern Afghanistan toward the south, he said. We don't know who these people are ... But we fear a large scale influx of people.
Officially, Pakistan's border with Afghanistan is closed except for refugees in need of urgent attention, such as the ailing, the elderly and small children. However, some Afghans have been able to bribe their way into Pakistan or have been able to sneak across on mountain paths. In Pakistan's southwestern border town of Chaman, a special train full of soldiers arrived, witnesses said. It was also loaded with several tanks. Paramilitary troops were also headed to the border in the northwest.
There are also concerns that hundreds of Taliban soldiers and their Arab, Pakistani and Chechen allies who are part of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaida terrorist organisation, may try to move into Pakistan.
Pakistani newspapers have reported that hundreds of militants have already entered Pakistan.
Quereshi said Pakistan would only allow people with legal documents to cross the border.
Bureau Report