Pakistan to create fence and mine barrier on Afghan border

AP/NY Times:

Pakistan will fence and land mine parts of its border with Afghanistan to prevent cross-border militancy, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

The announcement comes amid growing international criticism of Pakistan over alleged infiltration of Taliban and al-Qaida militants from the country's border regions into Afghanistan.

''In keeping with our policy to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan, the Pakistan army has been tasked to work out modalities for selectively fencing and mining the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,'' Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told a news conference.

Islamabad also will deploy additional paramilitary troops at the frontier, Khan said.

Pakistan was taking the measure on its side of the border and agreement with Afghanistan to do so was not required, he said. Afghanistan, however, expressed its opposition to the plan.

''Fencing or mining the border is neither helpful or practical. That's why we are against it,'' said Khaleeq Ahmed, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. ''The border is not where the problem lies.''

Afghanistan, hit by the worst upsurge in violence since the Taliban regime's ouster five years ago, has rejected previous offers from Islamabad to fence and mine the rugged frontier. It is populated on both sides by Pashtun tribespeople with strong family and clan ties.

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Right now the Taliban are crossing with the aid and assistance of Pakistan border guards so channeling those crossings is unlikely to make that much of a difference. It also ignores the problem of the sanctuaries which is the root of the issue. Pakistan must destroy those sanctuaries or permit their destruction.