Tariq Outpost, Oct 25: From this hilltop outpost built of mud and stone, Pakistan troops watched the infiltration routes through the narrow gullies and expanse of plains traditionally traversed by afghan tribesman, and now the suspected avenues of escape for Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters. During the day paramilitary forces squeeze their eyes into binoculars to watch. At night, they mount four-wheel-drive pickup trucks, some donated by the United States, to patrol the unpaved border tracks.
Nearby, two helipads serve the troops on this desolate frontier, marked only by the occasional white-painted stone. Army officers say the new Pakistani vigilance is paying off. In recent months, 62 foreign nationals have been arrested illegally crossing the border in the southwestern sector, said Maj. Gen. Sadaqat Ali Shah, the head of the frontier constabulary paramilitary troops in the province of Baluchistan.
"They were not Afghans. I cannot say who they were,'' said Shah. The detained men were handed over to Pakistani intelligence agencies.
The internationally backed Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai has long complained that its enemies were finding safe haven in Pakistan's unruly and sparsely inhabited border regions.
To counter the accusations, the Pakistan military arranged a series of briefings and a tour for reporters of the normally off-limits area yesterday and today to support its contention that it is using all available resources to stop rebels from using its soil against Afghan President Hamid Karzai's fledging government.
Bureau Report