Police in south-eastern Afghanistan have been placed on alert, with their numbers increased in Paktika province. Afghan authorities have doubled the number of policemen in six districts near the border with Pakistan, to counter attacks by thousands of al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents.
AFP news agency quotes a local police chief as saying that 56 policemen will be deployed in each of the districts, which have also been infiltrated by anti-western Arab and Chechen fighters. Pakistan’s military in October attacked the area in a massive air and ground operation, killing eight Taliban and al-Qaeda suspects and arresting 18 others. |