February 12, 2009	Thursday	Safar 16, 1430

LANDI KOTAL, Feb 11: Nato authorities provided military gear, including night-vision goggles, to Pakistani forces at a tripartite meeting held in the Khyber tribal region on Wednesday.

Senior military officers of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nato met at a military base near Torkham and discussed a surge in militancy along the Pakistan-Afghan border and attacks on Nato supplies in tribal areas of Pakistan.

Officials said that Brigadier Amjad represented Pakistan at the meeting. The participants also visited the Michni Post and attended a briefing there.

The night-vision equipment would enable the security forces to watch the movement of suspected elements in a radius of nine to 10 kilometres.

Pakistan has been calling upon the United States to provide night-vision equipment for quite some time to enhance the capacity of its forces fighting the Taliban in the region.