Pak set-up 26 new military check-post along Afghan border to check Taliban crossover

Lahore, Feb.21 (ANI): Pakistan has set-up 26 new military check-post in Balochistan along the Afghanistan border to check infiltration of Taliban and other extremists in the wake of the ongoing 'Operation Mushtarak' in the neighbouring country.

The total number of check-posts has increased to 286 in the region.

According to a private television, the Pakistan government has also assured that it will hand over any extremist to the NATO forces, who is caught crossing over to Pakistan from Afghanistan's Helmand province, where the international forces led by the US have launched a massive offensive.

The United States and Pakistan have also agreed to share real time intelligence inputs with each other regarding extremist movement in the region.

The operation which is being carried out in the southern Afghanistan town of Marjah is the biggest joint operation since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan and is a major test of a new NATO strategy to focus on protecting civilians, rather than killing insurgents.

Thousands of Afghan security forces are also taking part in the offensive, which include troops from the Afghan National Army as well as about 100 specialists from Afghanistan's elite police unit - the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP).

This is the first time that Afghan troops have been engaged with the international force on such a scale and Commanders hope it will help reassure locals in Taliban hotspots that their ordeal is almost over. (ANI)