Pakistan on Tuesday sealed off its border with Afghanistan at Chaman point after security forces arrested two suspected militants late Monday night while trying to sneak into Spin Boldak, the capital of the Pukhtoon-majority Kandahar province of Afghanistan, Daily Times has learnt. The sources said that transit passes issued to Pakistanis and Afghan nationals to cross over to Afghanistan had also been cancelled. However, there would be no bar on the UN staff to move across the border. Preliminary investigations disclosed that the two suspected militants from Swat were to meet a 17-member group of Taliban to implement a plan to kill security officials in different areas of NWFP and smuggle in a sizable quantity of explosives. The 17-member group also includes two high-value targets carrying head money announced by the US government. The names of the two suspected militants were not disclosed for security reasons.
The sources said that sensitive equipment and closed-circuit cameras had also been installed at Chaman point to check the cross-border movement of militants, who might disrupt peace and stability in the country, particularly in NWFP, by carrying out terrorists/suicide attacks. The government had earlier put in place a computerized data system at Chaman point for cross-border movement of Pakistani and Afghan nationals, especially the traders.
Meanwhile, the sources said the interior ministry had directed the NWFP police to utilize all available resources for protection of troops deployed in the restive Swat Valley to crack down on the militants backed by Tehreek-i-Nifaze Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM). The district police officers (DPOs) of Nowshera, Mardan, Peshawar and Swat have also been directed to cordon off the roads and areas during the movement of military convoys for Swat and Malakand areas. Security has been tightened further in Peshawar, Nowshera, Risalpur and Mardan cantonments and police have been deployed at sensitive installations to guard against any untoward incident.