'The reality,' said a source familiar with the
situation on the ground, 'is that there are units
so opposed to what the coalition is doing and
so friendly to the other side that when the
op****tunity comes up they will fire on Afghan
and coalition troops.
.oO~Oo.
Pakistan troops 'aid Taliban'
New classified US do***ents reveal that mass infiltration of Frontier
Corps
by Afghan insurgents is helping latest offensive
* Peter Beaumont and Mark Townsend
* The Observer,
* Sunday June 22, 2008
The Pakistani Frontier Corps has been heavily infiltrated and influenced
by
Taliban militants, sometimes joining in attacks on coalition forces,
according to classified US 'after-action' re****ts compiled following
clashes
on the border.
According to those familiar with the material, regarded as deeply
sensitive
by the Pentagon in view of America's fragile relation****p with Pakistan,
there are 'box loads' of such re****ts at US bases along the length of the
Pakistan-Afghan border. Details of the level of infiltration emerged
yesterday on a day when five more US-led soldiers were killed in southern
Afghanistan. Four of the soldiers died in a bomb and gunfire attack
outside
the southern city of Kandahar.
Nato officials have re****ted a dramatic increase in cross-border incidents
compared with the same period last year. The US do***ents describe the
direct involvement of Frontier Corps troops in attacks on the Afghan
National Army and coalition forces, and also detail attacks launched so
close to Frontier Corps outposts that Pakistani co-operation with the
Taliban is assumed.
'The reality,' said a source familiar with the situation on the ground,
'is
that there are units so opposed to what the coalition is doing and so
friendly to the other side that when the op****tunity comes up they will
fire
on Afghan and coalition troops. And this is not random. It can be
exceptionally well co-ordinated.'
Another source - who has seen the re****ting - described an attack last
year
where two Frontier Corps outposts appear to have been directly involved in
firing on Afghan forces before a militant attack.
Frontier Corps personnel have in the past been implicated in the past in
murdering US and Afghan officers. In the most high-profile case, a
Frontier
Corps member 'assassinated' Major Larry J Bauguess during a border
mediation
meeting. In another incident, an Afghan officer was killed. Since then the
problem appears to have worsened as the Taliban renew their insurgency on
the Afghan side of the border.
'The United States and Nato have substantial information on this problem,'
said an American official. 'It's taking place at a variety of places along
the border with the Frontier Corps giving direct and indirect assistance.
I'm not saying it is everyone. There are some parts that have been quite
helpful... but if you have seen the after-action re****ts of their
involvement in attacks along the Afghan border you would appreciate the
problem.'
James Appathurai, a Nato spokesman, said: 'The real concern is that the
extremists in Pakistan are getting safe havens to rest, recuperate and
retool in Pakistan and come across the border. The concerns have been
conveyed to the Pakistan authorities.'
Seth Jones, author of the Rand re****t, which found evidence of
collaboration, said the issue had been troubling the US even before the
invasion of Afghanistan: 'If you go back a decade to the Clinton
administration when the US targeted militant camps, members of the
Pakistani
intelligence services were killed along with militants.'
The allegation that senior Pakistani officials continue to offer lukewarm
assistance to the coalition while offering help to the Taliban is also
reiterated in Descent into Chaos, a new book by the veteran Pakistani
author
Ahmed Ra****d.
Relations between the US and Pakistan were strained this month when 11
members of the Frontier Corps were killed when the US allegedly bombed
their
outpost near the border town of Gora Prai during a gun battle with
militants
on the border. Pakistani sources have questioned why the troops were
hiding
in a bunker in the midst of the battle and why they were 'unaware' of an
hour-long firefight going on so close by.
The issue of the Taliban's ability to cross and recross the border with
Pakistan into that country's Federally Administered Tribal Areas is
becoming
one of the most contentious issues of the war, with many - including
Afghan
President Hamid Karzai - insisting that his country is involved in a
'regional conflict' and threatening to send troops across the border.
The death of the five soldiers yesterday came as the Taliban stepped up
their offensive. It happened a day after two other US-led soldiers died in
separate incidents, including a suicide bombing.
|
