Military

DATE=2/12/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=PAKISTAN /AFGHANISTAN (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-313035

BYLINE=AYAZ GUL

DATELINE=ISLAMABAD

INTRO: Pakistan has admitted for the first time that some anti-government activities in neighboring Afghanistan are originating from Pakistani soil. Ayaz Gul reports from Islamabad.

TEXT: Addressing senior military officers at the National Defense Collage in Islamabad, President Pervez Musharraf said that Pakistan is taking steps to prevent Afghan insurgents from carrying out raids into Afghanistan from Pakistani territory.

/// MUSHARRAF ACT ///

Certainly everything is not happening from Pakistan. But certainly something is happening from Pakistan. Let us not bluff ourselves. Now whatever is happening from Pakistan must be stopped, and that is what we are trying to do.

/// END ACT ///

As a close U-S ally in the war on terror, Pakistan has deployed nearly 70-thousand troops along the porous border with Afghanistan to slow the movement of insurgents.

But Afghan authorities and U-S military officials have regularly complained that members of Afghanistan's ousted Taleban government, as well as remnants of the al-Qaida terror network are using Pakistani border regions for launching attacks inside Afghanistan.

In the past, Pakistani officials have disputed such suggestions. Mr. Musharraf is the first Pakistani official to admit that the complaints are valid.

The southern and southeastern Afghan regions bordering Pakistan have seen frequent attacks against U-S led multi-national anti-terrorism forces and official Afghan targets.

The U-S military announced early this year that it will launch a spring offensive against Islamic rebels in Afghanistan. (SIGNED)

NEB/HK/AG/BK/RAE