Saturday, March 28, 2009

Pakistan Army Raid 'Kills Rebels'

Pakistan Army Raid 'Kills Rebels'
*Whenever there is protest from US on inaction by Pakistan government on militants, immediately Pakistani army springs into action, will round-up or kill few small fish militants for public stunt. These actions are so obvious and predictable. (DTN Defense-Technology News)
(NSI News Source Info) March 28, 2009: Pakistan's army says troops backed by artillery and helicopter gunships have killed 26 militants in an attack near the Afghan border. The army said the battle took place in Mohmand, North-West Frontier Province, said to be a hub for Taleban militants. Earlier, Pakistan's president said his country would not allow use of its soil for terrorist activity. It came after the US said elements in Pakistan's ISI military intelligence were still supporting the Taleban. Adm Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in a CNN interview on Friday night the ISI had links with militants on both Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan and India. Supply trucks torched Earlier on Saturday, the Taleban destroyed 12 parked trucks laden with supplies for Nato personnel in Afghanistan - the latest in a series of similar attacks - near Peshawar, capital of North-West Frontier Province. The battle came as families buried their dead a day after a suicide attack that killed at least 50 people at a packed mosque in North-West Frontier Province's Khyber tribal agency. US President Barack Obama has thrust the Afghan-Pakistan border to the centre of his new strategy. On Friday he warned that growing radical forces in Afghanistan and the boundary area in Pakistan posed the greatest threat to the American people and the world. Afghan President Hamid Karzai praised the US review. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari also welcomed Washington's new strategy in a speech to parliament in Islamabad on Saturday, calling it an endorsement of his own government's counter-extremism policy. Cross-border operations He also said his country would not allow anyone to violate its sovereignty, although he did not specifically criticise US missile attacks on Pakistani territory as he has done in the past. The president is the widower of assassinated politician Benazir Bhutto Cross-border operations by US-led forces have angered Pakistani authorities in recent months. In his speech to parliament Mr Zardari also recommended the lifting of governor's rule in Punjab province, the imposition of which led to a dangerous confrontation between the opposition and the government. The BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says the West will welcome the president's move as it wants nuclear-armed Pakistan to focus on eradicating militant havens. Mr Zardari's decision to lift direct federal control of the Punjab is being seen as his second climbdown in recent weeks. Pakistan's one-year-old civilian government was plunged into turmoil this month as opposition leader Nawaz Sharif threw his weight behind a nationwide protest march on the parliament. The former prime minister and his brother, Shahbaz, who is chief minister of Punjab, were disqualified by the authorities earlier this year from holding elected office. Western governments and the Pakistan army persuaded Mr Zardari to defuse the crisis by submitting to opposition demands to reinstate the independent-minded Supreme Court chief justice.

Israel Successfuly Tests Anti-Rocket Missile: Reports

Israel Successfuly Tests Anti-Rocket Missile: Reports
(NSI News Source Info) Jerusalem - March 28, 2009: Israel has carried out several successful test launches over the past two days of missiles to stop short- and medium-range rockets, Channel Ten commercial television reported on Thursday. The missiles managed to locate, track and intercept the rockets in flight, whether fired singly or simultaneously, it reported. Channel Ten said the missiles, which can destroy rockets with a range of up to 70 kilometres (43 miles), will become operational in 2010 when the first batch is delivered to the Israeli air force. The missile system, named Iron Dome, was the target this month of a scathing report by Israel's state comptroller, who accused the defence establishment of wasting time and money on the proposed rocket protection shield. "Huge sums have been wasted because of hazardous decisions for the development of an anti-rocket defence system over the past eight years," State Comptroller Micha Lindenstraus said in her annual report, which paints a picture of bureaucratic waste and irregularities. Iron Dome and the associated Magic Wand defence system are being developed by Israel's Rafael weapons research company. In the summer of 2006 during the second war in Lebanon, the Shiite Hezbollah movement fired more than 4,000 Katyusha rockets with a 40-kilometre range, forcing around a million inhabitants of northern Israel to flee south or take refuge in shelters. Israel said its "Cast Lead" onslaught against Hamas in the Gaza Strip in December and January was aimed at ending of the firing of rockets from the Palestinian enclave towards southern Israel.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Welcomes US Review

Afghan President Hamid Karzai Welcomes US Review
(NSI News Source Info) KABUL, Afghanistan - March 28, 2009: Afghan President Hamid Karzai says a US review of strategy in the region - announced by President Obama on Friday - was "better than he had expected". Mr Karzai praised the review's focus on countering militant activity in Pakistan and the US offer to Iran of a role in seeking a political solution. Mr Obama described the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan as "perilous".
US officials later spoke of alleged links between Pakistan's military intelligence, the ISI, and militants. Announcing the US review, Mr Obama proposed a big spending programme on infrastructure projects, and said 4,000 extra troops would be sent to Afghanistan to train security forces. "We'll be working very, very closely with the US government to prepare for and to work on implementing all that was laid out in this strategy" Hamid Karzai said. President Asif Ali Zardari of Pakistan, meanwhile, has also praised some aspects of the review, including the US offer of civilian aid to try to reduce the influence of Islamic militants in remote border areas of Pakistan. Speaking to journalists in Kabul, Mr Karzai said he was "in full agreement" with the strategy. "It is exactly what the Afghan people were hoping for, and we're seeking," he said. "Therefore, it has our full support and backing... and we'll be working very, very closely with the US government to prepare for and to work on implementing all that was laid out in this strategy." "This is better than we were expecting as a matter of fact," he added. 'Dangerous' On Friday Mr Obama said growing radical forces in Afghanistan and the border area in Pakistan posed the greatest threat to the American people and the world. He painted a bleak picture of the situation, with insurgents increasing their control of territory in the region around the Afghan-Pakistan border - which he termed "the most dangerous place in the world" for the American people - and attacks rising. He said American strategy must relate directly to the threat posed to the Americans by al-Qaeda and its allies - who, he reminded his listeners, were behind the 9/11 attacks on American soil eight years ago. Hours after the speech, senior US military officials spoke of alleged links between Pakistan's military intelligence, the ISI, and militants on the country's borders with both Afghanistan and India. Gen David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, said that if such links undermined operations against the militants they would damage US efforts to build trust in the region.

U.S. Officials Say Israeli Warplanes Bombed Convoy Of Trucks In Sudan

U.S. Officials Say Israeli Warplanes Bombed Convoy Of Trucks In Sudan
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 28, 2009: Israeli warplanes bombed a convoy of trucks in Sudan in January that was believed to be carrying arms to be smuggled into Gaza, American officials say. An Israeli government spokesman, Mark Regev, said Israel would not comment, The Associated Press reported. But the departing prime minister, Ehud Olmert, hinted that Israel had carried out the strikes. ‘‘We operate everywhere where we can hit terror infrastructure,’’ he said in a speech Thursday, without directly mentioning Sudan. Reuters reported Friday that Sudan now believed Israel was behind two attacks on convoys that killed up to 40 people in the remote north of the country in January and February. ‘‘The first thought is that it was the Americans that did it,’’ said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ali al-Sadig, according to Reuters. ‘‘We contacted the Americans and they categorically denied they were involved. We are still trying to verify it. Most probably it involved Israel.’’ Intelligence analysts noted that the strike was consistent with other measures Israel has taken to secure its borders. U.S. officials said the airstrike took place as Israel sought to stop the flow of weapons to Gaza during the weeks it was fighting a war with Hamas there. Two U.S. officials who are privy to classified intelligence assessments said that Iran had been involved in the effort to smuggle weapons to Gaza. They also noted that there had been intelligence reports that an operative with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps had gone to Sudan to coordinate the effort. The Sudanese said the reports emerged now because it took time to fully investigate the strike. But an accusation from one government official that the attack was an American act of genocide raised the possibility that the Sudanese were lashing out because the International Criminal Court had issued a warrant for the arrest of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on war crimes charges in the conflict in Darfur. The U.S. officials who described the Israeli role declined to be identified because they were discussing classified information and were not authorized to speak for the Obama administration. A U.S. military official said the January strike was one of a series of Israeli attacks against arms shipments bound for Gaza.

Tokyo Dispatches Destroyers To Intercept North Korean Missile

Tokyo Dispatches Destroyers To Intercept North Korean Missile
(NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - March 28, 2009: Japan dispatched two destroyers from their base in the Nagasaki Prefecture to the Sea of Japan on Saturday prior to a planned missile launch by North Korea, the country's defense ministry announced. North Korea announced plans last month to launch what it says is a communications satellite from its Musudan-ri launch site between April 4-8. However, the U.S., Japan and South Korea believe that the secretive state is planning to test its Taepodong-2 long-range missile. Following North Korea's announcement Japan's Security Council on Friday gave approval to the defense ministry to destroy the North Korean rocket if Pyongyang goes ahead with the launch. The Kyodo news agency reported that the Kongou and Choukai warships, fitted with Standard Missile-3 ballistic interceptor missiles, had set sail from the Sasebo base on Saturday. Four Patriot guided-missile units will also be deployed on the ground in the prefectures of Akita and Iwate, as well as around the capital, including the Defense Ministry headquarters near the Imperial Palace. "It's important to deal with and eliminate the North Korean projectile should it threaten the people's security and safety by falling into our airspace, waters or soil," the Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada as saying on Friday. A third Aegis destroyer the Kirishima, which is expected to track the missile, has also set sail from its Yokosuka base in the Kanagawa Prefecture en route to the Pacific Ocean. Russia also announced that its early warning system will be put on high alert in connection with the launch, the head of a Russian think tank said on Friday. "All of our missile attack early warning stations monitoring the eastern sector will be put on high alert ahead of the Korean satellite launch," Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Center for Military Forecasts at the Institute of Political and Military Studies, said earlier.

Russia, U.S. Leaders To Make Joint Declarations At G20 - Official

Russia, U.S. Leaders To Make Joint Declarations At G20 - Official
(NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - March 28, 2009: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. counterpart Barack Obama will issue joint declarations on bilateral relations and strategic arms reduction at their upcoming meeting in London, a presidential aide said on Saturday. "We will have two presidential statements - on Russian-U.S. relations generally, but also on START. The texts are shaping up nicely and should become the starting point for our future work," Sergei Prikhodko told journalists prior to the two leaders first-ever meeting on April 1 on the sidelines of the G20 summit. The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-I) expires in December and the Russian and U.S. president are expected to resume talks on a follow-up to the treaty. Moscow has linked it to U.S. missile shield plans for Europe, which it vehemently opposes. The presidential aide told journalists the much anticipated meeting between Medvedev and Obama would be a chance for the leaders to "synchronize watches," take stock and turn a new page in bilateral relations, which, following a recent meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers, have already been dubbed "reset." However, Prikhodko said there were no "illusions" that the issues between the two countries would be easy to solve, "We are aware that to some degree the first meeting contains a 'tentative aspect.' Each side will arrive with their own priorities, accents, ideas on foreign policy." But he said there is an understanding that a new opportunity for Russia-U.S. ties exists which should not be thrown away, "We expect London to be an important milestone on this path." A priority for Russia is plans by the U.S. to deploy its controversial missile shield in Central Europe. Prikhodko said that Medvedev would discuss the issue with Obama and will again offer to set up a joint system "to monitor missile threats from a southern direction." Russia has offered the United States the use of its radar stations in southern Russia and Azerbaijan as alternatives to the U.S. missile shield, which Moscow considers a threat to its national security. Moscow strongly opposes the possible deployment by the U.S. of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic as a threat to its security and nuclear deterrence. Washington says the defenses are needed to deter possible strikes from "rogue states."

Russian, U.S. leaders To Address Iranian Nuclear Issue In London

Russian, U.S. leaders To Address Iranian Nuclear Issue In London
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 28, 2009: The Russian and U.S. presidents will discuss the issue of Iran's nuclear program at their upcoming meeting in London, a Russian deputy foreign minister said on Friday. Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama will meet at the G20 summit due in London next week. "Needless to say, this topic will be discussed," Sergei Ryabkov told the Ekho Moskvy radio station, adding that "our American partners are greatly concerned" by Iran's nuclear program. The official said there were two aspects to the issue that should be taken into account. "Firstly, Iran complies with its commitments within the framework of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. This means that the international community has no reason to deprive it of a right to peaceful [uranium] enrichment activity," he said. However, he also said the international community still had a number of questions about Tehran's nuclear program that required clarification. Commenting on the upcoming meeting between Medvedev and Obama, Ryabkov said an agreement on reciprocal visits had yet to be achieved. He also commented that "a number of options are being considered," but that Moscow would like to see the issue resolved as soon as possible. The United States and other Western countries suspect Iran of secretly developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the accusations saying its nuclear program is purely civilian.

Russia Cautions North Korea Against Rocket Launch Plans

Russia Cautions North Korea Against Rocket Launch Plans
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 28, 2009: A deputy Russian foreign minister has joined international criticism of North Korea's planned launch of a rocket, warning the reclusive communist country on Friday against increasing tensions in the region. North Korea announced plans last month to launch what it says is a communications satellite from its Musudan-ri launch site in early April. However, the U.S., Japan and South Korea believe that the secretive state is planning to test its Taepodong-2 long-range missile. "We understand that the situation in northeast Asia is currently very tense. It would therefore be better if our North Korean partners were to refrain from the launch," Alexei Borodavkin told reporters. The deputy also said that Russia has constantly emphasized the need to avoid aggravating the issue. "[We] need to calmly evaluate the situation without any fuss or counter threats, and all of the issues surrounding the launch should be dealt with through dialogue and consultations between the countries concerned," he added. Russia's early warning system will be put on high alert in connection with the launch, the head of a Russian think tank said on Friday. "All of our missile attack early warning stations monitoring the eastern sector will be put on high alert ahead of the Korean satellite launch," said Anatoly Tsyganok, head of the Center for Military Forecasts at the Institute of Political and Military Studies. The Japanese Jiji Press agency last week cited diplomats in Beijing as saying the launch would go ahead on April 4 barring adverse weather conditions or last-minute repairs. Following the announcement Japan's Security Council on Friday gave approval to the defense ministry to destroy the North Korean rocket if Pyongyang goes ahead with the launch. "It's important to deal with and eliminate the North Korean projectile should it threaten the people's security and safety by falling into our airspace, waters or soil," Kyodo news agency quoted Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada as saying on Friday. According to North Korean experts, the first stage of the rocket is due to fall in the Sea of Japan, 130 kilometers (93 miles) off the coast of Japan near the Akita Prefecture, and the second stage is due to come down somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Japan has deployed two Aegis destroyer vessels equipped with standard missile-3 interceptors in the Sea of Japan. Four Patriot guided-missile units will also be deployed on the ground in the prefectures of Akita and Iwate, as well as around the capital, including the Defense Ministry headquarters near the Imperial Palace. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has warned North Korea that the firing of a missile of any kind would be a "provocative act" that could harm the six-party negotiations on the country's denuclearization. The talks, involving the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, China and Japan, came to a standstill last December, over North Korea's refusal to allow international inspections at nuclear sites.

Russia To Deploy Special Arctic Force By 2020 - Security Council

Russia To Deploy Special Arctic Force By 2020 - Security Council
(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 28, 2009: Russia will create by 2020 a group of forces to protect its political and economic interests in the Arctic, but does not plan to militarize the region, a spokesman for the Russian Security Council said on Friday. He said the council had recently posted on its website a document, "The fundamentals of Russian state policy in the Arctic up to 2020 and beyond," which outlines the country's strategy in the region, including the deployment of military, border and coastal guard units "to guarantee Russia's military security in diverse military and political circumstances." "However, it does not mean that we are planning to militarize the Arctic. We are focusing on the creation of an effective system of coastal security, the development of arctic border infrastructure, and the presence of military units of an adequate strength," the official said. According to some sources, the Arctic Group of Forces will be part of the Russian Federal Security Service, whose former chief and current secretary of the Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, is a strong proponent of an "aggressive" state policy in the Arctic. Another goal of the new strategy is to "optimize the system of the comprehensive monitoring of the situation in the Arctic," including border control at checkpoints in Russia's arctic regions, coastal waters and airspace, the spokesman said. The strategy envisions increased cooperation with neighboring countries in the fight against terrorism, drug-trafficking, illegal immigration and environmental protection. The document also prioritizes the delineation of the Arctic shelf "with respect to Russia's national interests."

Pakistan: Militants Attack Nato Supply Terminal In Peshawar

Pakistan: Militants Attack Nato Supply Terminal In Peshawar
*Where are Pakistan security forces, when militants attack NATO supply terminal? It is obligatory in accordance with International law that a host country must protect properties of foreign countries and individuals. It seems that Pakistan Army are least bother with NATO supplies to Afghanistan, which are being damaged, burned or stolen in Peshawar and also careless of the consequence and credibility on the country reflecting as a lawless region. The U.S. is pouring billions of dollars in Pakistan with economy and military aid and Pakistan authority should be answerable to the aspect. (DTN Defense-Technology News)
(NSI News Source Info) PESHAWAR - March 28, 2009: Dozens of suspected militants fired rockets early Saturday at a transport terminal in northwest Pakistan that is used to ship supplies to Nato troops based in Afghanistan, police said. At least 12 shipping containers were damaged in the attack at the Farhad terminal in Peshawar, capital of troubled North West Frontier Province, local police official Zahur Khan told The Associated Press. He said police opened fire at the insurgents but they managed to flee. At least 12 shipping containers were damaged in the attack at Peshawar’s Farhad terminal, a police official said. The attack came less than a day after a suicide bomber blew up in a packed mosque in North West Frontier Province's Khyber tribal region, killing 48 people and wounding scores more in the worst attack to hit Pakistan this year. Afghan-based US and Nato forces get up to 75 per cent of their supplies via routes that pass through Khyber and a southwestern Chaman border crossing — areas where Taliban militants are believed to be operating. Militants were suspected in Friday's deadly mosque attack, apparently to avenge recent military operations in the area aimed at protecting the Nato supply route, authorities said. The route passes in front of the mosque, where about 200 worshippers were present at the time of the blast. Shortly after the attack, tribal police detained two suspects who were making a video near the mosque and investigators believed the men were linked to those who orchestrated the bombing, two local security officials said Saturday. The officials — who spoke on condition of anonymity — provided no further details and only said the men were still in police custody and being questioned. Several security officers were also killed in Friday's attack, which came hours before President Barack Obama unveiled a revised strategy to 'disrupt, defeat and dismantle' the al-Qaeda and the Taliban militants operating in Afghanistan and northwest Pakistan. Afghan and Pakistani officials praised Obama's emphasis on civilian aid to their countries, saying it would be an effective way to deal with the growing militant violence. Militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan have often killed scores of Pakistani civilians in attacks. Mosques and funerals have been targeted before, but Friday's blast was seen by many as plumbing new depths of evil. 'What kind of holy war is this? Only poor people have been killed,' said Asfandyar Wali, head of the ruling secular party in the northwest. 'This is not about implementing Islamic law, this is not about holy war. This is outright insurgency.' Tariq Hayat, the top administrator of the Khyber tribal region, said 48 bodies were found in the rubble, and he predicted the death toll would likely rise. More than 100 people were wounded, medical officials said. Pakistan has been hit by scores of attacks by al-Qaeda and Taliban militants since the Muslim country withdrew its support for the Taliban in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and supported the US-led invasion of that country. Until Friday, the deadliest recent attack was in September, when a suicide truck bomb killed at least 54 people and devastated the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad. The militants are mostly sheltering in the border region, which western officials say they use as a base to attack US and Nato soldiers in Afghanistan, where violence is also running at all-time highs. The lawless, mountainous region is believed to be a possible hideout for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden.

US Warns Pakistan On Taliban Link

US Warns Pakistan On Taliban Link
(NSI News Source Info) March 28, 2009: The US military says it has evidence elements within Pakistan's military intelligence, the ISI, continue to provide support for the Taleban. Officials said that this support for militants had to end. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said the ISI had links with militants on both Pakistan's borders with Afghanistan and India. Pakistani army troops stand guard as supporters of pro-Taliban cleric Sufi Muhammad, remove a blocks to reopen a road, which was closed by militants, Sunday, March 8, 2009 in outskirt of Mingora, capital of the troubled Swat Valley, in Pakistan. Taliban militants in Pakistan's Swat Valley have extended a cease-fire, strengthening a peace process that Western governments say risks granting a safe haven to extremists close to the Afghan border. US President Barack Obama has announced a new strategy for the "increasingly perilous" situation in Afghanistan. He said an extra 4,000 US personnel would train and bolster the Afghan army and police, and he would also provide support for civilian development. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he was "in full agreement" with the US review. 'Very damaging' Two senior figures in the US military have spoken about the links they believe exist between elements in Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Taleban and al-Qaeda militants. People in Islamabad give their views about Mr Obama's speech "There are certainly indications that's the case," said Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a CNN interview. "Fundamentally that's one of the things that has to change." In another interview, the head of the US Central Command, General David Petraeus, said some of the militant groups had been established by the ISI and that their links continued. He said there was evidence that "in the fairly recent past" the ISI had tipped off militants when their positions were in danger. "It's a topic that is of enormous importance, because if there are links and if those continue and if it undermines the operations [against militants], obviously that would be very damaging to the kind of trust that we need to build," said Gen Petraeus in a PBS interview. Wearing thin American officials, speaking anonymously to the New York Times, have given more detail. So I want the American people to understand that we have a clear and focused goal: to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan Barack Obama They said the strengthening Taleban campaign in southern Afghanistan was being made possible by military supplies from Pakistan. The newspaper said electronic surveillance and informants had shown that the level of co-operation was deeper and more extensive than earlier thought. Pakistani leaders have publically denied any links with the militants. The BBC's Charles Scanlon says patience in Washington appears to be wearing thin. 'New strategy' On Friday US President Barack Obama said growing radical forces in Afghanistan and the border area in Pakistan posed the greatest threat to the American people and the world. Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said it would strengthen democracy in his country, while the Afghan government said Mr Obama had recognised that the al-Qaeda threat came mainly from Pakistan, and that it was a regional problem. President Obama said his "comprehensive new strategy" was an outcome of a "careful policy review" in which military commanders and diplomats, regional governments, partners, Nato allies, NGOs and aid organisations were consulted. US troops carry out joint operations with the new Afghan security forces He painted a bleak picture of the situation, with insurgents increasing their control of territory in the region around the Afghan-Pakistan border - which he termed "the most dangerous place in the world" for the American people - and attacks rising. He said American strategy must relate directly to the threat posed to the Americans by al-Qaeda and its allies - who, he reminded his listeners, were behind the 9/11 attacks on American soil eight years ago. But he said targeting al-Qaeda was not only in the interests of American people, but populations around the world and Afghans themselves. "This is not simply an American problem. Far from it," Mr Obama said. "It is instead an international security challenge of the highest order." In Pakistan, Mr Obama said American help would be needed to go after al-Qaeda, which Mr Obama admitted was "no simple task".

Pakistan And Afghan Taliban To Unite In Their Fight Against US Troops In Afghanistan / United Taliban Ready To Face U.S.

Pakistan And Afghan Taliban To Unite In Their Fight Against US Troops In Afghanistan / United Taliban Ready To Face U.S.
(NSI News Source Info) ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - March 28, 2009: Obama’s decision to send 17,000 reinforcement troops in Afghanistan has only strengthened resolution of Taliban to hold ground and fight. In fact Pakistan and Afghan Taliban have buried their differences, closed ranks and agreed to unify in their war against US. Supporters of Pakistani religious party Jamiat-Ulema-i-Islam rally, protesting against U.S. policy of expanding strikes on Pakistani territory, in Pakistani border town of Chaman along Afghanistan, Friday, March 27, 2009. They chanted slogans in favor of Taliban and their leader Mullah Omar. Taliban fighters across borders are preparing to greet influx of American soldiers with bombs and suicide attacks. Taliban leaders have revealed in this in their recent interviews. Pakistan Taliban which has been engaging Pakistan military and asserting their ground in Pakistan has been asked to shift focus towards Afghanistan. This new strategic alliance is a worrying factor for both NATO forces and Pakistan. The conflict is going to worsen and spread in to Pakistan as well. American intelligences forces also claim that Pakistan military agency has been offering all help to Taliban insurgents hoping to shape new government in Afghanistan once NATO forces leave. The two sides are preparing for a showdown. Young commanders are being trained. Another battle will intensify. This time it’ll be bloodier direct confrontation between NATO troops and unified Taliban. And casualties will be high too. Wars can only bring more reasons for war.