International
Pak. rushes troops to Afghan border
By B. Muralidhar Reddy
ISLAMABAD, DEC. 8. Pakistan today denied reports that Taliban chief, Mullah Omar, and the Saudi dissident, Osama bin Laden, have crossed over into its territory and said it has mounted extraordinary vigil along the 2,500-km border to prevent any infiltration.
Briefing correspondents at the Foreign Office, Maj. Gen. Rashid Quereshi, Press Secretary to the Pakistan President, said a substantial number of army troops and heavily armed helicopters had been deployed along the porous borders with Afghanistan.
``We have seen the speculative reports in a section of the media about the entry of Mullah Omar and Osama along with some of their associates into the Pakistani territory. So far, there is no credible information with Pakistan or with U.S.-led coalition that Osama or any of his supporters entered Pakistan territory.''
``We have beefed up security in addition to security that already existed. Substantial number of regular army troops have been deployed specially opposite Tora Bora and Chaman border,'' he said. The troop deployment was heavy in the areas facing Tora Bora caves and Kandahar.
Ground and aerial surveillance had also been stepped up to prevent any of the Taliban fighters from escaping into Pakistan. ``We are using all assets, vehicular, manpower and helicopters for increasing surveillance on the Pak.-Afghan border.'' He, however, declined to go into the number and location of the troops deployed. ``Substantial troops have been deployed. All I can say is that they are enough to do the job. I do not want to give the number of for obvious reasons,'' he said.
`Fighters to be tried'
Maj. Gen. Quereshi told the BBC that citizens who went to Afghanistan to fight along with the Taliban and the Al-Qaeda would be put on trial.
They would be tried under the law of the land and the Government would also not hesitate to discuss their role with the U.S.-led coalition against terrorism.
He said ``It is against the law of the land that people should cross the country's border without permission of the Government and start fighting in another country.''
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