Taliban place Stingers along Pak border

ISLAMABAD, Oct 1 (UNI): The Pakistani army and the Taliban forces are face to face against each other as the Afghanistan leadership had started amassing troops equipped with stinger and other missiles along the borders dividing the two countries, said a newspaper.

The news quoting Pakistani military and political officials reported today that the Taliban have deployed thousands of Arab fighters in Kandahar in preparation for war.

A senior military officer in a major crossing point at Quetta on the Pakistan-Afghan border told the newspaper that the Taliban numbers at the frontier posts 100 meters away had been lifted from just a handful to around 300 since the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Citing sources crossing the border in recent days, the official said "thousands of Arab fighters" had gathered in Kandahar, 100 kms inside the Afghan border, in preparation for US military strikes.

In a significant development, All Pakistan Air Force aircraft have been removed from the Quetta airport, the news said quoting reliable sources.

The army has taken over the security of the airport and the airport security force jawans have vacated the airport, the newspaper said.