C J CHIVERS American and Afghan soldiers near the border with Pakistan have faced a sharply increased volume of rocket fire from Pakistani territory in the past six months,putting them at greater risk even as worries over the disintegrating relationship between the US and Pakistan constrain how they can strike back. Ground-to-ground rockets fired within Pakistan have landed on or near US military outposts in one Afghan border province at least 55 times since May,according to interviews with US officers and data released in the past week. May is when members of a Navy Seals team killed Osama bin Laden in the house where he lived near a Pakistani military academy,plunging American-Pakistani relations to a new low. Since then,the escalation in cross-border barrages has fueled frustration among officers and anger among soldiers at front-line positions who suspect,but cannot prove,a Pakistani government role. The governments relations with the US frayed further after senior US officials publicly accused Pakistan of harbouring and helping guerrillas and terrorists. US officers have been in a difficult position when describing the attacks. Many painstakingly tried not to blame Pakistan directly. But other officers rejected Pakistans official position,and said elements of the Pakistani military or intelligence service were most likely involved. The level of command and control,and the level of sophistication of the IDF,is showing that there is some type of expertise being employed, said one US officer,on the condition of anonymity,using the acronym for indirect fire or use of mortar,artillery and rocket attacks. Whether the surge in attacks indicates Pakistani military retaliation,an emboldened insurgency,some degree of both or some other factors cannot be determined from the data alone. Another officer,said attacks often come from positions next to Pakistani military or Frontier Corps border posts. He said there has been no sign of Pakistani units trying to stop the firing,or of willingness to help US units identify who is shooting. He offered a commonly held assessment: They are getting help, the officer said of the insurgents. Its PakMil, he added,using the acronym for Pakistani military.
