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Frontier Corps (FC) Can Check Taliban Intrusion, Says Official
Thursday, September 20, 2001

PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Daily Telegraph
Top government circles have discounted the Taliban's ability to launch a military assault on Pakistan, saying that they neither have the preparedness nor the skill to take the battle beyond Afghanistan's borders.

But the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government is gearing up for a possible backlash from the Taliban, Osama bin Laden and their supporters in Pakistan in the event of an American attack on Afghanistan.

"There are no signs of any significant military deployment by the Taliban on the borders, therefore, a ground assault is not likely in the near future," said a top ranking official of the NWFP government Wednesday. "However, in the event of a hostile action (by the Taliban), the Frontier Corps (FC) is sufficiently equipped to stop them inside their border."

Reports from across the border suggest that Taliban have deployed anti-aircraft guns and artillery pieces on some strategic points at Torkham. Sources in Kabul have said that Taliban are also reinforcing former jihadi bases along the Pakistan-Afghan border, such as at Shamshad near Torkham, at Spina Shaga across Parachinar, and in Zhavara area opposite Miramshah, the headquarters of South Waziristan Agency.

The official, who has been a senior ranking Pakistan army officer and has dealt with Afghanistan during a stint in the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), said Taliban were a rag-tag army of tribal bands which had no discipline and no preparedness required to take on a professional outfit such as the FC.

"However, Pakistan may face problems from the refugee population already in Pakistan, or from the agents of Taliban who may enter the country in the disguise of new refugees," the official said, requesting anonymity.

To counter these threats, the NWFP government has moved on two fronts, the official said. First, it prevailed on the federal government to ban all movement across the Afghan border in spite of recommendations by the foreign ministry and the Safron that Afghans and Pakistanis with legal travel documents should be allowed to cross the border.

Second, the government created an inter-agency Operation Room (OR) in the Department of Home and Tribal Affairs on Tuesday to counter possible terrorist acts in the frontier region.
(More: Daily Telegraph News Source)

Dan