Pakistan to fence, lay mines on Afghanistan border

The announcement comes amid growing international criticism of Pakistan over alleged infiltration of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants from the country's border regions into Afghanistan.

"In keeping with our policy to prevent any militant activity from Pakistan inside Afghanistan, the Pakistan army has been tasked to work out modalities for selectively fencing and mining the Pakistan-Afghanistan border," Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammed Khan told a news conference.

Islamabad also will deploy additional paramilitary troops at the frontier, Khan said.

Pakistan was taking the measure on its side of the border and agreement with Afghanistan to do so was not required, he said. There was no immediate reaction from Kabul.

Afghanistan, hit by the worst upsurge in violence since the Taliban regime's ouster five years ago, has rejected previous offers from Islamabad to fence and mine the rugged frontier. It is populated on both sides by Pashtun tribespeople with strong family and clan ties.

Khan did not say how much or exactly where the 1,510-mile poorly demarcated border would be fenced, and he gave no start date.

He said in places were the frontier is fenced, there will be designated places for people to cross.

Khan also gave no details on how many extra troops would be deployed there. Pakistan has about 80,000 forces in its northwestern tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

The allegations of cross-border attacks by Taliban-led rebels have caused bitterness between the neighbours and sparked criticism from Western nations supporting a Nato security force in Afghanistan that is struggling to rein in the insurgents.

Earlier Afghan authorities Tuesday said that they had arrested a Pakistani national who had allegedly been providing suicide bombers to the Taliban in eastern Paktika province.

The man, whose name was not revealed, was "in charge of recruiting suicide bombers and equipping them," provincial governor, Mohammad Akram Khpolwak told AFP.

He was arrested from Bermal district in the bordering Paktika province on Monday, the governor said.

He gave no further details saying that the case was under investigation.

Afghan government officials frequently blame Pakistan for a surge in Taliban-led violence including the increase in suicide bombings in Afghanistan.

Pakistan firmly denies helping the Taliban and points to the fact that it has 80,000 troops along the border with Afghanistan, hundreds of whom have died fighting pro-Taliban militants.

The governor also said that police raided a suspected Taliban compound in the same district and seized a bomb-fitted motorbike. However the owner of the motorcycle fled before the raid, he added.

Some 4,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, have died this year in insurgent violence that has made 2006 Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the fall of the Taliban five years ago.