June 11, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 06, 1429

RAWALPINDI, June 10: A spokesman for the ISPR has rejected the allegation, levelled in the Rand Corp report, ‘Counter Insurgency in Afghanistan’, that the Frontier Corps and ISI are providing assistance to insurgent groups coming from across the border.

The spokesman termed it yet another smear campaign to malign the Pakistan armed forces and create differences as well as misunderstanding among the coalition partners. “The report is misleading, factually incorrect and based on propaganda to create doubts and suspicion in the minds of target audience about Pakistan’s role in supporting the coalition forces in Afghanistan. Such reports, which keep appearing in international media from time to time, are not without a design and have a definite agenda to follow,” the spokesman said.

He clarified that no government official from the Frontier Corps or any intelligence agency was providing any material or financial support to the Taliban fighting in Afghanistan. On the contrary, US civil and military officials in their interactions at various levels have always appreciated and acknowledged the role and sacrifices of Pakistan armed forces in the fight against terrorism.

The spokesman stressed that none of the allegations levelled in the report had ever been raised by coalition officials in their formal or informal interactions with Pakistani officials.

Commenting on the allegation that Pakistani officials tipped off Taliban forces about location and movement of the Afghan and coalition forces which undermined US and Nato operations, the spokesman said this was a poorly fabricated story to create distrust between the two armed forces.

He said that Pakistan had suffered maximum in this war. “Pakistan armed forces have suffered heavy casualties to normalise the situation and bring peace and stability in the area. Any attempt to destabilise the situation will not be in the overall interest of the coalition.

“We, therefore, reject and condemn all the allegations made in the report and caution all concerned not to be misled and misguided by the contents of the report.”