One can’t help but wonder how many of the jihadists in the cross-border raids going the other way, from Afghanistan into Pakistan, are Pakistani Taliban. Pakistan has cried foul over the incursions — it’s a crisis when the shoe is on the other foot — and implied the U.S. and Afghanistan are responsible for a cross-border “safe haven” situation analogous to the one for which Pakistan has become infamous.
“Afghan Nato forces ‘kill 35 Pakistan Taliban militants’,” from BBC News, July 27:
At least 35 Taliban militants from Pakistan have been killed and several wounded by Nato-led forces inside Afghanistan, officials say.
The militants are said to have crossed over into the Afghan province of Paktia to target coalition forces when they came under attack last week.
Sources in Pakistan’s Waziristan tribal region told the BBC that many of those wounded had now been brought back.
Some are said to be receiving medical treatment in the town of Miranshah.
Pakistan has been under severe pressure from the US in recent months to prevent militants based in its tribal regions from crossing into Afghanistan to fight Nato troops based there.
Earlier this month Washington said that it was cutting $800m (£500m) in military aid to Islamabad because of “difficulties” in its relationship with Pakistan. […]
An army spokesman said they don’t need it anyway.
Reports suggest many of the dead and wounded belonged to two leading militant leaders in Waziristan – Hafiz Gul Bahadur and Mullah Nazir.
The BBC’s Shahzeb Jillani says that both are known for actively targeting Nato-led forces. He says the deaths appear to be a significant blow to cross-border militants feeding the insurgency inside Afghanistan.
The coalition itself has confirmed the raid, saying it believes the fighters were moved into Afghanistan by the Haqqani group, long regarded by the US as an especially dangerous militant faction based in Waziristan.
There have been previous cases of Pakistani Taliban being killed by Nato, but few incidents are reported.[…]
In recent weeks, Islamabad has also complained of a number of cross-border militant attacks in Pakistan’s north-west and has lodged official protests with Kabul over the incursions.