Pakistan calls for action on Afghan border

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 15 (UPI) -- NATO officials must do more to prevent insurgents from crossing the Afghan border into Pakistani territory, Pakistani intelligence officials said Monday.

Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas, a spokesman for Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, said the flow of insurgents from Afghanistan is undermining the effort to crush the Taliban in his country, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reports.

Border protection, he added, was a joint responsibility, saying NATO must do more to prevent insurgent traffic.

Military officials said Pakistani forces had killed thousands of militants since operations began in the volatile tribal region in August 2008.

Pakistani military forces in early March raised the national flag over Damadola, a former militant stronghold near the border. It was believed to once be a hideout for al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri.

Islamabad told U.S. military officials in February ahead of a major push into Taliban territory in southern Afghanistan that all military activity should remain on the Afghan side of the border.

Pakistani military officials, however, called on their U.S. counterparts to share intelligence information with Pakistani security forces.

Abbas added that there were more than 800 border checkpoints manned by Pakistani forces, but only 112 Afghan army or NATO positions.