Pakistan military to add 60,000 troops to patrol Afghan border

Bloomberg

Pakistan will add 60,000 troops to boost its patrols along its disputed border with Afghanistan in an effort to curb the flow of insurgents passing between the two nations, according to military officials familiar with the matter. Forty percent of the troops have already been recruited in the exercise, which is expected to take two years, the officials said, asking not to be identified so they could discuss sensitive troop movements. About 13 percent of a fence planned along the 1,456 mile-long disputed border has also been completed, they said. The armed force’s media department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The move will consolidate Pakistan’s border operations, which have been beefed-up in recent years after widespread insecurity wracked the country following the US invasion of Afghanistan. Domestic terror-related violence is now at its lowest in more than a decade. The army has an estimated 560,000 active personnel, according to the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies. Forces have previously been more focused on the country’s eastern border with arch-rival neighbour India, with which it’s fought three wars against since British India’s partition in 1947.