Pak troops to block escape

ISLAMABAD (AFP/Reuters) - Military said Thursday it had redeployed troops along the Afghan border to
prevent Taliban fighters from fleeing a massive US offensive launched in southern Afghanistan.
It is a reorganisation of the forces in the border area, military spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP.
Asked how many troops were gathering opposite Helmand, a Taliban flashpoint and a major opium-growing
region, Abbas refused to go into operational details and described the repositioning as nothing extraordinary.
Southern Helmand shares a 200-km desert border with Balochistan and troops were being moved there to
challenge any crossing, said a military spokesman.
The area which is not under stress at the moment, we can pull out troops from those areas and beef-up the area
which is coming under effect, he said.
The US offensive in Afghanistan comes as Pakistani soldiers are battling Taliban in the Swat valley and in South
Waziristan, a militant enclave opposite eastern Afghanistan.
Abbas said there was no question of Pakistani soldiers crossing the border to help US forces.
Were only strengthening our border posts, were not moving into Afghanistan, he said.
Asked if Pakistan expected similar cooperation from Afghan and foreign troops as they draw up battle plans
against Pakistani Taliban warlord Baitullah Mehsud in tribal South Waziristan, Abbas declined to answer
directly.
Baitullah Mehsuds area does not border with Afghanistan, he told AFP.