ISLAMABAD, April 19: Pakistan has asked the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan to check the movement of miscreants into Pakistan which has increased recently. In a statement issued here on Tuesday, the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said Pakistan’s concerns about border crossings by miscreants had been communicated to the US and Afghan officials during a meeting of the Tripartite Commission on Monday.

The commander of the combined forces command in Afghanistan, Lt-Gen David Barno, and Afghan national army’s chief of operations Lt-Gen Sher Muhammad Karimi had attended the meeting during which the Pakistani side, led by Maj-Gen Mohammad Yousaf, conveyed its concerns.

ISPR said the attention of the coalition members had been “drawn to the increase in incidents of miscreants movement from Afghanistan to our side of the border. They were asked to address the issue and check the movement of miscreants from Afghanistan.”

According to a US official, 20,000 coalition troops, 8,500-strong NATO forces and 22,000-strong Afghan national army are responsible for maintaining security, targeting terrorists and checking their movements in Afghanistan. Pakistan has around 70,000 troops on its side of the border.

Taking exception to Lt-Gen Barno’s remarks about an impending military operation by Pakistani troops in North Waziristan, an ISPR spokesman said: “We decide for ourselves what needs to be done, when and where.”

He, however, did not rule out the movement of troops to North Waziristan for a military operation.

Lt-Gen Barno had told reporter on Monday: “We now collectively feel there is a need to undertake an operation in North Waziristan. That’s an area where I think the Pakistani military is about to undertake a military operation to keep pressure on the terrorist networks.”