Pak Army behind incursions, Senate informed

[randolph85]

http://www.pajhwok.com/en/2012/07/31/pak-army-behind-incursions-senate-informed

KABUL (PAN): Senior security officials on Tuesday informed the Senate that cross-border attacks into eastern Kunar province were carried out by the Pakistani Army and intelligence service.
Over the past one year, hundreds of rockets and missiles have been fired into several districts of Kunar, killing and wounding dozens of people and forcing hundreds of families to flee homes.
Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi, Chief of Army Staff Gen. Sher Mohammad Karimi and National Directorate of Security deputy head (operations) Dr. Zia appeared before the Meshrano Jirga to brief lawmakers on the incursions.
Mohammadi said so far one thousand rockets had been fired into Dangam, Narai, Sarkano and Marawara districts of Kunar. A government delegation found the Pakistan army and intelligence were behind the attacks, the minister added.
“Heavy weapons with the Taliban are B-1 missiles, machine guns and mortars. The rounds of rockets we have found are available only to Pakistani forces,” the minister explained.
Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, who visited Kabul earlier this month, said there had also been attacks from Afghanistan into Pakistan -- a claim rejected by Mohammadi.
The minister insisted that Afghan forces were ready to give a tit-for-tat response to Pakistani attacks, if allowed to do so. “It does not matter if we don’t have heavy weaponry; we have the spirit to lay down our lives for the country.”
Mohammadi accused Pakistani forces of encroaching on Afghan territory over the past three decades.
The chief of army staff said there had also been attacks from the Pakistani army and intelligence operatives in southeastern Khost, eastern Nuristan, Nangarhar and southeastern Pakia and Paktia provinces.
Gen. Karimi said information about the shelling was shared from time to time with foreign ministry, intelligence service and foreign troops. He said he had repeatedly asked foreign troops for a response to the attacks or their prevention.
“But foreign troops, particularly Americans, are not willing to prevent Pakistani attacks, fearing the closure of the NATO supply routes and the atomic bomb that Islamabad has,” he said.
The army chief said that ignoring the attacks was a sheer injustice to the people of Afghanistan. Pakistan had nefarious designs against Afghanistan since its creation in 1947 due to the dispute over the Durand Line, Karimi said.
He believed the real aim was to force Afghanistan into recognising the Durand Line as a permanent international border. “At joint meetings, when we talk about the Durand Line, Pakistani officials get angry and say it is an international border.”
The army chief said Afghan forces needed advanced weapons to respond to Pakistani aggression. He revealed the army planned to raise a new battalion for Kunar and Nuristan.
NDS deputy chief (operations) Dr. Zia said Pakistan, interested in the uninterrupted flow of Kunar River into its territory, was against the construction of any dam in the eastern province.
Another objective behind the assaults was that Pakistan wanted to displace residents of border areas and send terrorists and spies there, he alleged. The spy chief lashed out at foreign troops for not coming up with a clear stance on the issue.
Senate Chairman Fazl Hadi Muslimyar said security forces should not wait for permission from the president or parliament to respond to cross-border attacks.
He also asked the officials to consult the president on the incidents. The legislators approved the remarks by raising their hands.

[randolph85]

Taliban slam Pakistan incursionsPajhwok
07/31/2012
By Javid Hamim Kakar
[Printer Friendly Version]

KABUL - The Taliban on Monday lashed out at cross-border incursions from Pakistan into eastern Afghanistan, blaming the Karzai administration for failing to contain the raids.

In a commentary on its website, the militant movement said there was no justification for the rocket and missile barrages from the neighbouring country into Afghanistan’s border areas.

The attacks were a brazen act that ran counter to all Islamic and international norms, as well as the principle of good neighbourly relations, the rebels said, demanding an immediate halt to civilian losses.

Branding the Karzai government as the second most corrupt administration in the world, the insurgents blasted Kabul’s inability to stop the bloodshed of innocent people and rescue Kunar residents.

A day earlier, the foreign ministry spokesman told a media briefing in Kabul that military officials from Afghanistan and Pakistan would meet soon on ways of effectively preventing cross-border incursions into eastern parts of the country.

Hundreds of people have been killed, wounded and displaced as a result of rocket and missile strikes, as well as artillery shelling, from Pakistani territory into border towns of Kunar over the past one year.

Janan Musazai said army commanders from the two countries would meet in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar, to sort out the issue. However, he gave no specific date for the meeting.

He quoted President Hamid Karzai as saying that problems occasionally erupted in areas along the border, known asDurand Line. But attacks from the neighbouring country were in no way acceptable to Afghanistan, he hastened to add.

Earlier in the month, Deputy Foreign Minister Javed Lodin communicated Afghanistan’s concerns over the incursions to Pakistan Ambassador Mohammad Sadiq. The National Security Council also took up the issue at its last week’s meeting, chaired by Karzai.

“Peoples of the two countries should make sincere efforts to forge mutual cooperation,” the Taliban statement aid, chiding bids to fuel tension and hatred between the neighbours. It asked if it would put up with attacks on the rights of its people and remain tight-lipped.