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Pakistan Sends Troops, Tanks to Border to Keep Out Afghan Refugees and Fleeing Militants

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A special train carrying soldiers and tanks arrived early Thursday on Pakistan's southwestern border, witnesses said, part of a government effort to prevent Afghan refugees and fleeing militants from entering the country.

Pakistan has not yet seen an increase in Afghans reaching the border, but authorities took the move based on intelligence reports that large numbers of people were heading toward the frontier, Gen. Rashid Quereshi, the spokesman of the military-led government, told The Associated Press.

"There is also a large scale movement from northern Afghanistan toward the south," he said. "We don't know who these people are ... but we fear a large scale influx of people."

Officially, Pakistan's border with Afghanistan is closed except for refugees in need of urgent attention, such as the ailing, the elderly and children. However, some Afghans have been able to bribe their way into Pakistan or sneak across on mountain paths.

Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees have entered Pakistan since the terror attacks in the United States on Sept. 11.

Witnesses said the train arrived early Thursday at the southwestern border town of Chaman. Paramilitary troops were also headed to the border in the northwest.

Pakistan shares a 1,340-mile border with Afghanistan, and the ongoing fighting, including the collapse of the Taliban Islamic militia, has raised concerns that large numbers of refugees may try to leave the country.

As the Taliban militia weakens under the continued U.S.-led assault, there are also fears that hundreds of Taliban soldiers and their Arab, Pakistani and Chechen allies who are part of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist organization may try to move into Pakistan.

Hundreds of militants have already entered Pakistan, Pakistani news reports say.

Quereshi said Pakistan would only allow people with legal documents to cross the border.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2001