Pakistan hands over Taliban suspects to Afghanistan

CHAMAN, Pakistan, Nov 24 (Reuters) Pakistan has handed over 240 suspected Taliban fighters to Afghan authorities this week as a hunt for the Islamist militants continues in the country's southwest, police said today.

Pakistani police have arrested hundreds of Taliban suspects in recent months in a series of raids in Quetta and other parts of the southwestern province of Baluchistan. Many were handed over to Afghan authorities in July but they said none appeared to be Taliban.

Salman Syed, a senior police official in Quetta, said over 240 suspects handed over to the Afghan authorities this week were arrested over the past two months.

''They were real Taliban fighters. They could not speak Urdu and had no knowledge where they are,'' he said referring to the language commonly spoken across Pakistan.

He said some suspects were arrested while getting medical treatment in hospitals.

''Our crackdown against Taliban fighters is continuing and we have increased our surveillance in hospitals.'' The latest crackdown comes amid growing demands by the Afghan government, the United States and NATO forces for Pakistan to act more forcefully against the Taliban.

Pakistan says it is doing all it can to stem cross-border movement of the militants and has called for more stringent border controls by Afghan and foreign forces on their side of the long, porous frontier.

REUTERS KR MIR RAI2121