Extra troops for Afghan border

Pakistan already has 70,000 soldiers along the Afghan border

Pakistan says it is deploying an additional 4,000 soldiers on its border with Afghanistan to prevent militants from moving across the frontier.

A Pakistani spokesman says the move comes ahead of Afghan parliamentary elections due in September.

The Afghan government has been critical of Pakistan in the past, saying it has failed to do enough to prevent militants from entering Afghanistan.

Islamabad has dismissed the allegations as baseless.

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Afghanistan

Pakistan already has some 70,000 troops deployed along its rugged border with Afghanistan.

A regional commander in the tribal belt that borders Afghanistan, Lt Gen Safdar Hussain, said that Pakistan had intensified patrols on the ground.

"We are well aware of our duties and will ensure that peace and tranquillity prevail at the time of the upcoming local and parliamentary elections in Afghanistan," Gen Hussain said.

But he said the US-led forces in Afghanistan needed more soldiers to help prevent attacks by Taleban and al-Qaeda militants.

Arrests

He also said that on Wednesday, Pakistani forces arrested six suspected militants, including one thought to be a foreigner.

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Military authorities say 22 other men were arrested on Wednesday in a military operation in which one soldier was killed and four others injured.

"The arrests establish Pakistan's earnest desire to help Afghanistan to return to complete normalcy," Lt Gen Hussain said.

Afghanistan has seen a string of attacks and clashes in recent months in which scores of people, including at least 29 US troops, have died.

Most of the bloodshed has been in the south and east, bordering Pakistan.

Afghan officials have accused Pakistan of doing little to stop militants, allegedly based in Pakistan, of crossing into Afghanistan.

Pakistan has strongly denied the allegations and said that it is impossible to completely seal the border.