Joint intelligence centre opens on Afghan-Pakistan border
US, Afghan and Pakistani officers opened the first of six joint military intelligence centres along the Afghan-Pakistan border, an effort to cut down on militants’ movement in a region of rising terrorist activity.
The centres represent the latest step in American efforts to get Afghanistan and Pakistan to coordinate in the fight against the Taliban and al Qaida.
The countries have a history of rocky relations, though ties have recently grown warmer.
The military centres, to be staffed by about 20 personnel from the three countries, also will allow Afghan and Pakistani officials to use America’s intelligence-gathering might.
The officers can watch live video feeds from US spy planes in the centres - real-time information that can be relayed back to ground forces on both sides.
Major General David Rodriguez, the commander of US troops in Afghanistan, told about 100 military personnel from the three countries at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a small border outpost that they were taking “a giant step forward in cooperation, communication and coordination”.
“This facility represents our best opportunity to move forward in our common mission to rid this region of the scourge of terrorism,” Maj Gen Rodriguez said. “The border coordination centre is the cornerstone upon which future cooperative efforts will grow.”
Pakistani Lieutenant General Mohammed Masood Alam, the top army commander in the country’s volatile northwest, said the war on terror is of common interest to the world, but more so to Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“Terrorism can’t be fought alone. It has no borders, no laws,” Lt Gen Alam said. “It’s going to be a long effort. It can’t be done overnight.”
Lt Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi, the chief of operations for the Afghan Defence Ministry, said the opening of the coordination centre was a milestone.
“Pakistan and Afghanistan are two brothers. No one can separate them,” he said.
