NATO troops build up on Pak-Afghan border

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* Villagers and officials say hundreds of coalition troops, tanks and APCs airlifted to border area * ISPR spokesman says media creating ‘unnecessary hype’ about troop movement * Pakistan Army deployed along border placed on high alert * Taliban spokesman says proximity makes it easier to kill more US soldiers

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MIRANSHAH: A build up of Western coalition forces on the Afghan border spread alarm among villagers in North Waziristan on Tuesday, as residents and officials said that the Pakistan Army was gearing up for “any eventuality”. Villagers and officials, requesting anonymity, said that hundreds of coalition troops had been airlifted to a border area near the Lawara village. “The coalition troops have started to strengthen their positions after setting up camp in the border areas adjacent to the Pak-Afghan border and US helicopters have been spotted hovering over target areas as support,” officials said.Reports from Afghanistan have said that helicopters have been transporting tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APCs) to Sarobagh and other landing strips in the Khost province, which neighbours the Tribal Areas.A villager said he could clearly see the troops. “They were brought by helicopters. They are at the zero point,” Akmal Khan, a resident of Lawara, told Reuters, referring to the disputed international boundary.The deployment is near Camp Tillman, a forward operating base for US forces.Unnecessary: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Athar Abbas played down concerns by saying it was probably a routine movement and the media had created “unnecessary hype”.According to APP, he told Dawn News that the movements were restricted to within Afghan territory and were in preparation for an exercise or operation there. “We closely monitor all such moves so nothing occurs too close to the border. Certainly, we have co-ordination and communication with each other,” he added. High alert: However, officials told Daily Times that the Pakistan Army deployed along the Pak-Afghan border has been placed on high alert in case of any infiltration. A spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan said there was no question of entering Pakistan. “Our mandate stops at the border,” spokesman Captain Mike Finney said. There was some “extra activity” on the border with troops searching for surviving insurgents after Sunday’s attack that killed nine US troops, he told AFP.Welcome: Meanwhile, Bajaur Taliban spokesman Maulvi Omar welcomed the build up on the border as a chance to kill more Americans. “It’s a gift that they’re coming here on our land and making it easy for us to kill our enemies, the enemies of Muslims,” he told Reuters.In a separate statement to The Associated Press, he criticised a statement by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani that had acknowledged the presence of foreign fighters in the Tribal Areas. “We will consider Prime Minister Gilani our enemy if the NATO or Pakistani security forces attack us after his baseless claim,” he said.The new government has promised to do whatever it can to secure the border with Afghanistan. However, a series of incidents along the border, including drone aircraft missile attacks, have fuelled fears that the US military may be moving to a more offensive strategy in Pakistani territory.

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Tribesmen vow to defend frontiers

MIRANSHAH: Tribal elders in the North Waziristan Agency warned on Tuesday that tribesmen were ready to defend their country against a possible invasion by foreign troops. “More than three million tribesmen would fight along the Pakistani security forces if foreign troops enter the Tribal Areas,” said Malik Afzal Khan. The warning followed reports that a large number of United States and NATO troops were assembling in areas surrounding Pakistan’s Tribal Areas. haji mujtaba