Tensions rise

The US has moved hundreds of new troops to the Afghan area bordering Pakistans insurgent-infested North Waziristan tribal region along with heavy artillery

US troops near Pak border: report

The US has moved hundreds of new troops to the Afghan area bordering Pakistans insurgent-infested North Waziristan tribal region along with heavy artillery,helicopter gunships and sealed movement on the border,local media reports here said. US forces deployed to new positions in the border areas facing Ghulam Khan in Pakistan between Saturday and Sunday night. The troops occupied nearby vantage points on hilltops,setting up observation posts,The News International said quoting Pakistani security officials and tribal elders. Geo television reported that tribesmen living in the border areas said Afghan and US authorities had clamped a curfew in parts of Afghanistans eastern Khost province and started house-to-house searches.

The villagers in Ghulam Khan said NATO warplanes were also seen flying over the border region several times during the day. Pakistani security officials in North Waziristan confirmed the latest development and said they were monitoring the situation on the border with Afghanistan,The News reported.

Pak wants Afghan action on cleric

Pakistan said on Monday that Afghan and US-led forces had failed to hunt down a Taliban cleric responsible for a spate of cross-border raids despite repeated requests from Islamabad,a complaint likely to deepen tension between the neighbours.

The attacks in which militants loyal to Maulvi Fazlullah took part killed about 100 members of Pakistans security forces,angering the army which faces threats from multiple militant groups. We have given locations and information about these groups to the Afghanistan government and ISAF International Security Assistance Force,but apparently there has been no action, Pakistani army spokesman,Major-General Athar Abbas,told Reuters.

The problem refuses to go away. Fazlullah was the Pakistani Taliban leader in Swat Valley,about 160 km northwest of Islamabad,before a 2009 army offensive forced him to flee. Also known as FM Mullah for his fiery radio broadcasts,he regrouped in Afghanistan and poses a threat to Pakistan once again,said Abbas.

Drones: Pak running out of patience

With the US stepping up drone strikes on the Waziristan region in recent days, Pakistans Defence Minister Ahmed Mukhtar has said his government was running out of patience and Washington must not test its limits. Pakistan has repeatedly protested the unilateral strikes,and Mukhtar said his government would unveil a revised policy on drone attacks soon.

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The warning came as the US spy aircraft carried out four strikes in Pakistans Waziristan tribal region in three days and killed nearly 10 people including three al-Qaeda linked Egyptians.

A recent report on the US drone attacks in Pakistan says that the US spy aircraft have killed up to 775 civilians,that includes as many as 173 children,in 300 strikes in Pakistans tribal regions since the attacks started in June 2004. The report was released Saturday by the London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Defence Minister Chaudhry Mukhtar said Pakistan strongly opposes the US drone strikes and is asking the US to stop these attacks. He told reporters in Lahore that Pakistan is losing patience as the US continues its strikes.