Pakistani military officials claim Nato forces failed to capture Taliban by Con Coughlin

To ensure the Taliban does not return to the region Pakistani officers want the West to provide aid to rebuild the region Photo: EPA
An estimated 700 Taliban fighters are reported to have fled across Pakistan's troubled North West frontier with Afghanistan in recent weeks following the recent military offensive by Pakistan's Armed Forces against Islamist militants.

But senior Pakistani officers who commanded the offensive, which has seen the government regain control of the lawless tribal territories, blame Nato for allowing the remnants of the Taliban force to escape into Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan.
We feel badly let down about this," said Colonel Nauman Saeed, 45, the commanding officer of the Bajaur Scouts, which was involved in heavy fighting to drive the Taliban from their bases in northern Pakistan.

"We informed Nato that Taliban fighters were entering territory which is supposed to be under their control, but they have not acted. It is very frustrating."

Col Saeed said the Pakistani authorities had intelligence that a large contingent of Taliban fighters were being protected by local Afghan sympathisers at a camp in Kunar, and were even being provided with guns and ammunition.

"We have credible evidence on this, but nothing seems to have happened," said Col Saeed. "Nato needs to do more to tackle these people. This region of Pakistan would be heaven if more was done to stop the Taliban crossing over the border."

Col Saeed was speaking as Nato officials in Kabul announced they had withdrawn American troops from the strategically important Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan because they were deemed to have become "an irritant" to local people.

At least 150 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and another 650 injured in Operation Sherdil, or "lionheart", in the military offensive launched to drive the Taliban out of northern Pakistan after Islamist militants seized control of territory close to the Pakistani capital Islamabad. An estimated 2,400 Taliban fighters have been killed in the offensive, about 750 surrendered while another 700 have fled across the border.

When the Taliban controlled Bajaur it was reported that al-Qaeda used their bases to plot attacks against the West, and Pakistan has been criticised by Western leaders in the past for not doing more to tackle Islamist militants. Intelligence officials say that three quarters of Islamist terror plots against British targets have links to Pakistan-based extremists.

To ensure the Taliban does not return to the region Pakistani officers want the West to provide aid to rebuild the region, which has suffered severe damage during the recent fighting. At least a dozen villages have been completely razed to the ground, and much of the region's infrastructure destroyed.

"The whole world told us to do more against the Taliban," said Col Saeed. "We were put under a lot of pressure. Now the tribes who suffered many losses during the operation need compensation so we can rebuild the region."

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