ISLAMABAD, 7 January 2007 — President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said yesterday that Yemeni, Uzbek and Lebanese nationals were indulging in acts of terrorism in Waziristan. The president made his comments during a public meeting in Dera Ismail Khan, about 260 km west of Lahore, organized by NWFP PML(Q) president and federal minister Amir Muqam and Sen. Waqar Khan yesterday afternoon.
The president said that the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps have undertaken successful military operations against these terrorists. “We have put them on the run,” he said. “It’s a very complicated problem and our government has been dealing with it with precision and effective military operations.”
Musharraf brushed aside allegations leveled by Afghan President Hamid Karzi that Pakistan is supporting the Taleban.
“The Afghan government should put its own house in order instead of indulging in a blame game,” he said, claiming that his government has deployed 80,000 troops to combat terrorism in the region bordering Afghanistan.
There has been a huge increase in violent attacks in Afghanistan in recent months, particularly in the southern region of Afghanistan where NATO forces are assisting the Karzai government in security operations.
Regarding Pakistan’s plan to boost border enforcement measures, a military source told Arab News on condition of anonymity that as yet Pakistan security forces have not started placing mines along the border. The construction of a border fence has begun in Chaman, Tauba Kakri, Pishin and other regions in Balochistan.
In another development, the Tripartite Military Commission of Pakistan, Afghanistan, NATO/ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) will hold its next session in Rawalpindi on Jan. 11.
Officials said top military commanders of NATO/ISAF and Afghanistan would attend the forthcoming Tripartite Joint Military Commission session. Vice Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ahsan Salim Hayat will represent Pakistan at the session.
The Tripartite Military Commission is holding its session after the meeting of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and Afghan President Hamid Karzai that resulted in discordant opinions over Pakistan’s proposed measures for border security, including border fencing and mining of over 2,400 km border line between Pakistan and Afghanistan, a plan Afghanistan rejects.
