It is in the strategic and political interest of western powers to control Pakistan and it's army. Now is the perfect time with the perfect reason. Utilize the Afghans to cause chaos in Pakistan.
Iraq is a Mess, Afghanistan is unstable, Iran is on the brink of being
decentralized and economically raped....why leave Pakistan alone...it is only a matter of time where the Pakistani military will be undermined and unravelled through proxies by Western powers...after all, nobody has forgotten that Pakistan is the only islamic country with nuclear technology....time is ticking...

On another note, Pakistan through the Afghan resistance to the Soviets has reaped MAJOR benefits which not only built its own infrastructure and economy, but the country has gained legitimacy as a nation through the Afghan struggles against communism.

Zachariah, Cambridge, England

Afan,
You're totaly wrong and naive. Pakitan can never invade Afghanistan - NO MATTER WHAT! What do you think will happen next even if Pakistan tries to advance on the 50,000 or so Afghan troops, well 80% of Afghanistan are trained gurella fighters. At the end Pakistan will have no other choice but will be constantly drwan to the battel field by Afghans and in the length of 3 years you whole economy will colapse.. lets not even mention how it will spark civil war which is already at brink. Don't desire to be a super power, Afghans don't give a damn about your so called nuclear or your army!

Durrani, London, England/UK

that,s not only problem of pakistan or afghanistaqn its da problem of the whole muslims we can observe in palestine ,lebnon,iraq and africa.muslims love to fight eachother.these are the consequnces of illiteracy, hunger,mismangement,milltery rules,injustice and lack of patience,

shakoor ahmed, london, uk

A war would be an absolute disaster for the Afghani "army", the PA would be in Kabul in a week tops. That is a fact based on objective analysis of the balence between the two forces, not on Zalmy's skrewed nationalistic outlook. But it would not be in Pakistan's best interests, a two front senario is something we have studiously tried to avoid since 1947. They (the Afghani Government) need to realize that as long as they continue on their confrontationist path, Pakistan will have no choice but to look to its own interests and do what it must.

Afan, Islamabad, Pakistan

This is a Pakistani ploy so the Pashtuns can resent each other, an attepmt to start Pashtun-on-Pashtuns crime so they can divid them for ever and officialy the Durand-line to be recocnised. Pakistanis are simply complecating things for Nato/US, thus asking for more incentives and influence in the Afghanistan for it's strategic depth, they have even killed a US soldier recklessly with no regard. Pakistanis (ISI) will do anything insane to confront Afghanistan at it's weakest. What Afghanistan realy needs is the stop inflitration by deadly ISI trained terrorists from the borders with Pak and stability and economic prosperity to prevail - the Durand-line is the last thing on Afghan's mind. The world community must not fall the the dirty and deceving Pakistani game and let her to continue the hinius crimes against Afghanistan. Afghanistan shouldn't be betrayed and left at the mercy of terrorist ISI and Taliban. Afghanistan shouldnt be played with and betrayed again and again.

Durrani, London, England/UK

It is a measure taken by the pakistan authorities to divert the public attention from its internal crisis where musharaf can not see any other way out of it but to provoke a war which once started will engulf not only pakistan but can have catastrophic consequnces to the region as a whole.

Ali, Kabul, Afghanistan

Why not grant independence to 'Pashtunistan'? Radical, but a solution, and it would allow the two nations to concentrate on their own problems.

Ben, York,

There is significant truth that Pakistan gov does train Taliban troops in an attempt to destabilise the Afghan regime. The majority of captured Taliban troops admit they've had training in Pakistan. Can we really say that the Musharraf gov can't stop these training camps? Pakistan has been the fundamental reason for the rise and growth of the Taliban.

Suleyman Siddiqui, london, UK

Hmm ... could this all be a political ploy to increase the 'nationalistic' credentials of Karzai? Note also the possible split among the Pashtuns on both sides of the border, another possitive outcome for the 'war on terror' ...

Peace, Amsterdam,

Zalmy

If Nato provides the means, Afghans should get their house in order and elect a representative government, not the puppet who passes for a president. Karzai shold remember where he was hiding before he was appointed president. Secondly, instead of building up the military, the aid money would be better put to use in building schools, hospitals and roads. But how is that possible when the Afghan government is composed of warlords, thugs and brigands ? Name one person of repute in the Afghan government.

Its strange that Afghanis blame Pakistan for ALL of Afghnistan's problems. I thought it started when the Afghanis overthrew their own government and invited the Russians. Who was providing support to Afghanistan then BEFORE the Americans stepped in and continued ? It seems not only that Afghanis are generally uncivilized but they have extremely short memories to boot.

Abid Khan, Milton Keynes, UK

Why can't Pakistan and Afghanistan take on the Taliban together? In return both countries can agree not to encroach on each other's territory, or better still, they could work to rid the border area of Taliban.

Emma H., Ottawa, Can.

Pakistan needs to move back into democracy and onto principled honest government. When this happens the Afghan situation will vastly improve. But displacing tribal rule with modern councils and elected representatives is key to both. Time and again we have seen that political forces and desires are far more powerful than the barrel of a gun.

Emma H., Ottawa, Can.

I think you are absolutely right when you say Afghan troops are ready to take on old foe. Somebody has very correctly pointed out that Afghanistan was the only country opposing Pakistan's UN membership. It implies they ARE Pakistan's foe but Pakistan is not. Think that how can a newly created country with meagre resources and assets can cause trouble for an established country like Afghanistan (which it was in 1947 i.e when Pakistan was created). Afghans have never been sincere with Pakistan and current events are nothing but a continuation of that same old thinking. Where are world's super powers, where is UN? Are they interested in becoming a quiet helpless spectator or are they really interested in the well being and progress of our region. Is their conscience dead or are they interested in annihilating Pakistan by using Afghans and other neighbouring countries. Peace in the region is in favor of Afghanistan, Pakistan and all other countries. Let it be so.

Shimud, Karachi,

It is utterly ridiculous for Kharzai to position troops against Pakistan, when the writ does not even control the whole of the Afghan. This has the potential of further destabilising Pakistan's embattled leader and leading to a political crisis. The region does not need another bloody conflagration, with the obvious consequence of innocent lives being lost.

Afghanistan, for the sake of humanity, STOP posteuring.

Supinder, Jalundhar, Punjab

Pakistan is fast losing friends. Instead of hoping for chunk of more of pashtuns' land, they should concentrate on winning hearts and minds globally. If the taliban gain back power in their country they will first turn on pakistan for revenge and that will be the begining of the end for pakistan.

mastan , London, UK

Pakistan is the root cause of all problems. It was the west which armed and supported pakistan with arms and amunition to fight the USSR forces. Pakistanis trained mujahideen to fight india and Afghan. The probelm will continue until pakistan is disarmed and all the radicals removed.

shiva, London, UK

Pakistan's used Afghanistan for 'strategic depth' causing immense damage to the fabric of Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been shamelessly used and abused by a lot of foreign powers, but mostly Pakistan.

The North West Frontier Province is clealry Afghan territory. The same familiesand tribes straddle an artificial border. No wonder the Pakistani government writ never ran over the tribal lands. Afghanistan needs a new beginning..

Kara Swart, London, UK

If the Pakistani military is fighting against the Afghan army, what will the Taleban and the assorted other forces be doing? I expect they will be doing something in their own interest and will be making deals with whatever side or combination of sides they feel is in those interests. Whatever the outcome, it isn't likely to be to the benefit of any of the sides involved, including the American. Any temptation to become seriously involved here in a military sense should be avoided, but rather events should be monitored to see which way they are drifting and then possibly nudged here and there in order to bring about the best possible outcome. That will probably not be that great in the short term, and plans should be made on the basis of taking best advantage of the way things are naturally unfolding. There is a great deal of resentment of the Pakistani government and the tribal elements should be allowed to stew in their own juices, although minor deals can be made in places.

Christopher Hobe Morrison, Middletown, Orange County, NY, USA

The name "Afghanistan" brings nothing but bad pictures to my memory. Be it the Sovjet occupation, Taliban style government, Northren Alliance army, American bombing, drug production etc. etc. In all this there are the countless personal tragedies which I can not even remotly relate to.

Speaking as a Pakistani: we do not even want a single meter of Afganistan soil. Our own country is big enough for us being the size of UK and France put together. Why in Gods name will we bring more problems home from their country. We already have the largest refugee population on earth with over 4 million Afghanistanis. Can you even begin to imagine the problems what such a big number? Instead of thanking us for supporting their freedom movement in the 80's, hosting 4 million+ of their numbers, incl. Karzai, putting our own security in danger and destroying our national fabric in the process all we get in return is this guy Rahman shooting at our border,

SHAME ON YOU MR. RAHMAN!!!

Syed Yassar Hamid Shah, Oslo, Norway

Afghans should respect Durand line as the border. Its accepted international border not since a month or two but since years. Your article is biased and impartial showing only one face of picture. It seems as if Afghans are waiting since centuries to teach Pakistanis a lesson. But the question is for what and why? Is Afghanistan able to confront a regular army while in their own country they are not able to contain their own people. It is questionable that why would Pakistanis try to open a warfront on Afghan border when they themselves are battling various ethnic & sectarian problems within their own country. If NATO and ISAF is not doing anything to contain the elements within Afghanistan and Pakistan by diplomacy and dialogue, then its of no use to keep these forces in Afghanistan. Rising tensions in the region will be catastrophic for the whole world. Its not a good idea to ruin a country while another in ruins is still battling to stand on its own feet. Let the sanity prevail.

Cee Jay, Stockholm,

This is the same thing India has been saying about Pakistani cross border terrorism. West's fear of a more powerful India and geopolitik kept them from recognising this threat and continued to condone the behavior of Pakistan. Musharaf is in trouble at home - both politically and from his militarty. He needs some major incident to divert and refocus the attention of the world. What better way than to use ISI and ask the Taliban to return the favors?
There is always the fearless Afghani people - who can be used as fodder in any war - be it western induced or pakistani induced to prove a point. Well every one will reap what they sow!!! Peace and power to the downtrodden..

Peace, Nashua, US

It is ironic that a conflict is being overplayed for I do not know whose gains. With Durand Line only existing on maps and not properly demarcated on ground, problems will arise in the future as well. As it is for the first time in history that Pakistan's Armed Forces have moved to these ungoverned spaces and occupied posts in its effort to support Global War Against Terror. WIth increasing pressure to control cross border movement the influx of Pakistani troops has increased. This requires political adjustments from both sides instead of blame game.
It is unfortunate to read the claim that many Pakistani armed personal fired, suffice to say if so many individuals would have fired on the party there would have been many many casualties. Individual acts of uncalled for behaviour are common to all armed forces.
Pakistan and Afghanistan have no choice but live together, having done more than what it should have Pakistan does not merit blame, rather better mutual understanding between tw

Khan, Ahsan, Peshawar, Pakistan

The history of Afghanistan is that of fighting tribesmen to gain land and control masses. Look at the ethnic trible system in that area. They have never been comfortable to resolve their issues with dialogue and discussion rather its the culture of guns and bullets with which they are more comfortable and used to. Had it been a tolerant society, it would have been a different story instead.

Mahmood, Ronneby,

A cynical man might say that a Pakistani Government that cannot control it's tribes in the border areas has deliberately enginered this so that the Afghans will come across the border and do it for them.

The Pakistan Government has little power in that area and trying to crack down on the rebel tribes and their support for the Taliban would cost them lives and political support from the radicals in Pakistan.

If the Afghans do some killing for them they lose nothing and gain a breathing space.

Dead Taliban would presumably be welcomed by most parties in the area.

Keith, Stoke, England

When USSR attacked Afghanistan, Pakistanis welcomed huge influx of Afghan refugees on humanitarian grounds, helped them financially, in military terms, morally and with west's support, trained and organized them to fight the military might of USSR, established supply lines for their survival and for those able to do something themselves, allowed them to mix up in Pakistani cities rather then confining them in camps, they established their businesses, prospered in this country and now what is happening? These Afghans are becoming backstabbers. Remember history. When Pakistan was created in 1947, Afghanistan was the only country voting against Pakistan's membership for UN membership. The problem is old. Pakistanis were wrong by allowing Afghans to let in their country and then going out of the refugee camps to live in cities. Once Pakistanis have an enemy on their western front but now their own supported and craddled Afghans have opened another front on east. What a pity.

Shiraz Mehmud, Karlskrona,

Pakistan has supported and provided sanctuary for Afghans since 1979 and now these guys are riled up over a fence. The price Pakistan has paid, for helping Afghanistan since Russian invasion, has been in the form of terrorism, drug trafficking, influx of weapons (known as Kalashnikov culture) has been immense and will continue to be felt for decades to come.

Instead of fighting Pakistan, the Afghan government should be making efforts to take back the millions of refugees who refuse to return to Afghanistan. Perhaps the fence has a two fold purpose, stop the militants AND stop the influx of refugees that continues unabated.

I doubt if the problem of Afghanistan will ever be resolved. Even if it is left on its own, a highly fractious tribal society more attuned to settling issues with the bullet rather than talking can never really live peacefully for long. How long can the West keep its forces there ?

Abid Khan, Milton Keynes,

Before 9/11 the USA opposed the military dictatorship in Pakistan and called for the return of the democratic government. Pakistan had been instrumental in the Taliban's rise to power, having provided them with the resources, weaponry, intelligence and training that allowed them to force the Iranian backed warlords from much of the country.
After 9/11 the USA made friends with the dictatorship which in turn withdrew formal support for the Taliban while the USA effected the removal of the Taliban from power by backing the Iranian backed warlords.
How could such a set up ever hope to succeed in the longer term?
Now, the dictatorship is floundering, the Taliban is gathering strength, relations between Kabul and Islamabad are deteriorating, the heroin trade is booming and former failed leaders (who's governments were instrumental in the Taliban's success) seek to reclaim power.
Bush and Blair's legacy: a dark shadow descending..

harlan Leyside, basildon,

The Afghanis need to realize that the Durant Line is the border and respect it.

Afan, Islamabad, Pakistan

Wherever the British set foot in foreign territories in order to illegally grab strategic advantage and usurp lands and riches, they deliberately left behind them the criminal re-delineation of borders and divided peoples. The horrors of those policies are still being lived today in the whole of the middle east, most of Asia, parts of Africa and the far east, and Australia (i.e. Aborigines in the case of the latter). Today, they play the theatrical role of "peacemaker", but their real intention remains - influence and domination. The legacy they left behind them is the continuing death and suffering of innocent people in a broad swathe of the globe, west to the carribean, and east from Cyprus to Australia, and north west across the Pacific. I am not particularly proud to be British.

Ronald E. Watts, Nicosia, Cyprus

If NATO provides the military means, Afghans could march to Islamabad within couple of weeks and could destory all extermist religious madrassas and terrorist camps inside Pakistan. It is a choice for NATO, either to eleminate those who harbor terrorism or face its dire consequences.

Zalmy, Kabul,

another long term american diplomatic blunder over 30 years.pakistan is the birth place of al-queda since the war against the russians and fondamentalists have taken over the power base in the country,we may see the start of a long struggle in this area along the tribesmen and regular pakistanis.having said that if the terrorists could only concentrate on this area .this is defenitly a winning situation but knowing this part of the world , i do not dream like some anglo saxons politicians

d.w.m JAMBERT, LONDON, U.K

I suspect this is more about local tribal rivalries than a planned Afghan-Pakistani confrontation.

In this area of the world everyone is willing to fight, far less are willing or able to build. Both sides need to realise further conflict is in no ones interest.

akram, London,

I can't stop laughing at your headline "Afghan soldiers mass on border". You'd think there were thousands of troops there or enroute. Scores??? If you read the article theres only 414 mentioned for sure. Oooooo I'm sure the Pakistanis are shaking in there boots if they have read this article. This is a classic example of media sensationalism.

Murph, Madisonville , USA/KY

People continually talk about diplomacy this and democracy that. When will people begin to realise that this is the way that politics is settled in the region.

Quoted from the very article above “Under our code of Pashtun-wali if your brother takes your house or land then you have to kill him or die trying." it is more than clear that this is the fundemental upbringing of these people.

Now who are we to say this is wrong or right. It tickles me that we can watch a pride of lions fight off another invading tribe on a documentary, and people don't want to intravine as 'that's nature'... however the second two human factions clash in what is the most triabl region of the world, people are 'up in arms'!

Tom Morgan, Wells, UK

A bad business, to be sure, but history shows again and again that the best way to unite a nation is against an external enemy. This could be really good for longer term afghan stability as long as they can convince themselves that they have won. Divisive internal forces (ie the Taleban) will be utterly discredited, so bring it on, let's hope it's nothing more than a minor scuffle and let's hope it ends in 'victory' for the Afghans. Then maybe we can bring OUR boys home.

Michael, London,

"Bloodthirsty animals."

Blaming men for all problems is really all on you.

The Afghans here are trying to defend themselves from yet another enemy. ISI has always been involved with the tribal regions of Pakistan that aren't even controlled by the government which give cover to the Taliban so later on they can just jump border and kill your American troops, other nato members and innocent Afghans. Securing borders and fighting those who support the taliban is a goal for Afghans.

Kevin, Fox Valley, USA

Haven't the Afghanis got enough on their plate? It seems that Karzai is being manipulated and may lead his country to meltdown. Sanity has to prevail.

Hamad , Thornton Heath, England

But at least S. Hussein no longer threatens democracy and freedom. What a relief.

Ronnie, Paris,

I am sick of men and their war. This is ridiculous. Afghanistan can't even produce a functional country, and here it is off doing fighting with a new front. And it is men. You don't see women out wholesale fighting in these wars, nor starting them for that matter. The world cannot afford forever the constant fighting. At some point I think it will just self destruct, and then I hope all the men are happy with themselves. Bloodthirsty animals.

Ann Rogers, Seattle, WA USA

With General Musharraf possibly facing his political demise, and a chance the fundamentalists will fill that void, could this be a prelude to another dimension of the wests war on terror ? Diplomacy must be applied with vigour before this gets out of control.

michael, Ex-pat in San Diego, U.S.A. / Ca