Tripartite centre opens in Afghanistan

KABUL—U.S. military, Afghanistan and Pakistan have established the first joint intelligence center in Afghan eastern Nangarhar province close to Pakistani border in an effort to check militants’ infiltration, an Afghan newspaper reported Sunday.
“U.S., Afghan and Pakistani officers opened the first of six joint military intelligence centers along the rocky Afghan-Pakistan border on Saturday,” daily Outlook said.
Aimed at sharing intelligence information, the center was set up in Torkham border town linking Kabul with Islamabad.
Staffed by some 20 personnel from the three nations, the center represented the latest step in American efforts to get Afghanistan and Pakistan to coordinate in the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents, the newspaper said.
The trio would meet regularly to review the situation along the border and chalk out plans to control cross-border activities on the Durand Line which divides the two neighboring nations.
Both the neighboring states of Afghanistan and Pakistan have been facing increasing militancy and extremist attacks over the past few years.

—Agencies