wsws, Responding to pressure from Washington, Pakistan has been engaged in extensive military operations for the last month to prevent groups of armed fighters crossing its border into Afghanistan. Both the US military and the Afghan government had accused Pakistan of failing to take sufficient measures to prevent anti-US forces from conducting hit-and-run raids inside Afghanistan.
According to the Pakistani army, the operation resulted in the capture of 230 so-called Taliban and Al Qaeda suspects during October and the killing of another 10. Ten troops lost their lives. The action, which began on October 2, was coordinated with US occupation forces inside Afghanistan. US helicopter gunships patrolled the Afghan side of the border to cut off any escape.
General Aurakzai, the Pakistani commander of the border forces, claims that the military has now secured control of the crossing points to seven key passes and begun to erect fencing in other border areas. North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah announced that 589 posts had been erected in October to control movement across the border.
Hundreds of Pakistan
