External Actors in the Afghan Problem continues ..

The Taleban kept on receiving weapons on a regular basis to replenish supplies consumed during battles with the United Front forces; these weapons crossed over to Afghanistan through Pakistani territory.

Apart from the kind of assistance from Pakistan, mentioned earlier, former Pakistani military officers provide specialized forms of assistance, particularly with respect to the maintenance and use of artillery, with a view to increasing combat efficiency. Recruitments of volunteer soldiers were organized by several Pakistani political parties who used Madrassas as natural recruiting centres.

This recruitment was performed openly, and some Pakistani government officials have repeatedly admitted knowledge of the paramilitary activities of the religious schools and have officially expressed discomfort regarding them.

However, significant numbers of recruits, travelling in trucks and buses, regularly crossed into Afghanistan from Pakistan to fight with the Taleban against United Front forces without any obstruction from Pakistani border officials. These recruits crossed the border on the main roads, where Pakistani border controls are quite vigilant. Among those recruited many were boys under the age of
eighteen.

The former Afghan Army base of Rishikor, southwest of Kabul, remained the main training centre for Pakistani volunteers brought to Afghanistan to fight for the Taleban. A guarded area within the camp held the living quarters for Pakistani military and intelligence personnel.

A typical forty-day training cycle in the camp covered physical training, weapons maintenance, instruction in the use of weapons, including Kalashnikovs, RPK light machine guns, ZSU anti-aircraft cannon, 82mm and 120mm mortars, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, as well as religious instruction

To be continued...