| Submit your comments on this article |
| India-Pakistan |
| Troops re-deployed in Waziristan after attacks |
| 2007-07-10 |
| The Pakistan armed forces have redeployed troops to checkpoints they had vacated following a peace deal struck last year with pro-Taliban militants in North Waziristan, to boost security after a spate of roadside bombings and suicide attacks, officials said on Monday. Army spokesman Major-General Waheed Arshad said a platoon-size deployment of paramilitary Frontier Corps forces — usually about 30 troops — had been sent to each of the four or five posts in the tribal region, mostly around the towns of Miranshah and nearby Mir Ali.i. He said the deployment did not herald the unraveling of a deal struck last September, under which militants agreed to halt attacks on Pakistani troops and cross-border raids into Afghanistan. “This is to strengthen security and stabilise the situation. It is nothing to do with the peace deal,” Arshad told the Associated Press. The deal, whose enforcement was to be overseen by local tribal leaders, temporarily stopped attacks on Pakistan’s forces although US military officials across the border reported an upsurge in attacks on its soldiers in eastern Afghanistan. A local intelligence official in North Waziristan said Pakistani troops had revived checkpoints in Miranshah, where they were telling tribesmen not to bring weapons into the town’s bazaar. Troops were also redeployed in Mir Ali, Data Khel and Razmak, the official added. Heavy machine guns manned by three to five soldiers had been set up at checkpoints established every 10 to 15 kilometres along the road leading out of Miranshah to Ghulam Khan and Data Khel, and some army forces were deployed on surrounding hills, a local resident said. Arshad also said troops had been deployed in Swat, where a pro-Taliban cleric has irked authorities by his opposition to a polio-immunisation campaign and his vocal support for Lal Masjid. |
| Posted by:Fred |