Pakistan Forces in Kabul

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Forces still in Kabul

The Pioneer : September 20, 2001

 

Pakistan Forces still in Kabul

 

ISLAMABAD : Despite Pakistan's offer of support to the us in fight

against terrorism, units of its Army, Air Force, Special Security

Group, Parachute Regiment, commandos and the Inter-Services

Intelligence (ISI) are stationed in Afghanistan till date as a

support base for the Taliban.

 

 

Besides officials and personnel of these units, hundreds of militants

belonging to several outfits like Sipah-e-Sahaba, Harkatul Mujahideen

and Jaish-e-Mohammad, which are based, trained and equipped by

Pakistan, are still positioned in Afghanistan and have been fighting

alongside the Taliban, reports said.

 

 

These reports, along with other information, have been provided by

Indian intelligence agencies to their us counterparts as part of the

understanding between the two countries at the joint working group on

counter-terrorism, sources said.

 

 

Quoting reports, they said while a Pakistan Army sub-unit from

Peshawar was stationed in Kabul, the first battalion of SSG from

Cherat headquarters has been redeployed in Afghanistan.

 

 

A Pakistani parachute regiment was located at the barracks of the

11th Nangarhar Division of Taliban, Pakistani commando sub-units were

stationed in the building of the artillery headquarters in Nangarhar

where 110 division was earlier located.

 

 

The reports said a group of Pakistani military advisers were at the

Bagram air base of Taliban. The ISI has opened two new offices in

Kandahar and Kabul "ostensibly to liaise with Taliban authorities"

and "greater and more effective coordination" with Taliban.

 

 

The ISI-Army combine was "using abandoned chemical factories,

fertiliser depots and closed cotton textile mills located in

Mansehra, Lakki, Nowshera and Charsadda areas of North-Western

Frontier Province of Pakistan "as staging posts for onward dispatch

of arms and ammunition to Taliban."