Earlier today, Taliban forces led by two powerful commanders crossed the border from Afghanistan, attacked military outposts, and killed more than 25 Pakistani security personnel, according to the Pakistani military. It also alleged that ISAF has failed to take action on large concentrations of Taliban operating in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan.
The fighting, which is said to be ongoing, began after upwards of 300 Taliban troops crossed the border from the northeastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan and attacked seven paramilitary Frontier Corps outposts in the district of Chitral in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Pakistani military said in a press release. Two of the border outposts were overrun. The military claimed that 20 Taliban fighters were killed during the fighting.
“At least 25 Security forces personnel including 16 Frontier Scouts KPK, 4 Policemen and 5 Levies embraced shahadat [death] when 200-300 terrorists from across the border (Kunar and Nuristan Province) attacked 7 FC check posts in Chitral early this morning,” the military statement said. “Own [sic] security personnel defended the posts by engaging the attackers and reportedly 20 terrorists were killed. However, two border posts were overrun by the terrorists.”
The attacks were carried out by “terrorists from Swat, Dir, and Bajaur organized by [Mullah] Fazlullah and Maulvi Faqir Mohammad with local Afghans,” the statement continued. Mullah Fazlullah commands Taliban forces in the Swat Valley, while Faqir Mohammad leads the Taliban in the Bajaur tribal agency.
The Pakistani military claims that Fazlullah and Faqir have been driven from their areas of influence during military operations over the past several years, and are now operating from Afghanistan. The Pakistani military said Fazlullah and Faqir “have organized themselves in Kunar and Nuristan provinces” with the aid of “local Afghan authorities.”
“Due to scanty presence of NATO and ANA forces along Pak-Afghan border, the terrorists are using these areas as safe havens and have mounted repeated attacks against own security forces posts and isolated villages,” the Pakistani military said.
The Pakistani military also took a swipe at the International Security Assistance Force, claiming that intelligence was passed on to ISAF about the presence of Taliban units, but no action was taken.
“It is pertinent to mention that since last one year [sic] accurate intelligence about large concentration of terrorists from Pakistan and their local Afghan supporters in Kunar and Nuristan provinces has been shared with NATO and Afghan authorities but no worth while action has been taken against the terrorists and attack against Pakistani border posts have continued with impunity,” the Pakistani military claimed.
In the past, the Pakistani military has criticized the US for withdrawing from remote outposts in the Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan in 2009-2010.
Raids by the Taliban on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border have increased this year as the terror groups have expanded their footholds in the region [see LWJ report, Taliban step up cross-border attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan]. The Taliban have struck at Pakistani military outposts in Bajaur, Dir, and Chitral, as well as district centers in Kunar and Nuristan in Afghanistan.
In one of the larger attacks in Pakistan, 27 policemen and 45 Taliban fighters were killed during battles in the Shaltalu area of the district of Dir in the beginning of June. At least 16 policemen were captured and then brutally executed by the Taliban. A video of the execution was released on the Internet [see LWJ report, Video of brutal Taliban execution of Pakistani policemen emerges].
