The Hindu : No joint operation with U.S. troops along Afghan border: Pak.

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2003

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No joint operation with U.S. troops along Afghan border: Pak.

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD June 23. Pakistan has ruled out any joint operation with U.S. troops along its borders with Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Masood Khan, told a weekly briefing, ``there is no joint operation by the U.S. and Pakistani troops along the (Pak.-Afghan) border — no U.S. troops are in our side.''

He said the Pakistani Army had entered the Khyber and Kurram Agency with the objective to ``open up'' Mohammad Agency. ``It is purely our operation,'' he said. Mr. Khan claimed that the Pakistani troops were welcomed in the area, however, there was some resistance in one small pocket, ``but negotiations are underway to bring them into the main stream.'' He said the basic needs of these people are health, education and basic infrastructure.

He acknowledged that the U.S. and Afghan troops were jointly conducting some operation on the Afghan side of the border.

Mr. Khan said that recently a meeting of the tripartite Commission of Pakistan-U.S.-Afghanistan had taken place. It did not discuss any operation or any details about the ones being undertaken by the U.S.-Afghan troops and the one by Pakistani troops in its area.

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