MIRANSHAH, Pakistan, Aug 23 (AFP) - Hundreds of Pakistani troops took up positions in two northwest towns bordering Afghanistan Monday amid reports of an offensive by Afghan forces, officials and residents said.
Pakistani officials in the tribal district of North Waziristan said Pakistani troops were blocking the border in tandem with Afghan forces mounting an offensive on their side in the southeast province of Khost.
"An operation is underway on the Afghan side. The troops have been deployed on the Pakistan side to arrest suspects fleeing the operation," a local security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
"We have sealed the border in the area to prevent entry of people from Afghanistan," said a local administration official in district capital Miranshah.
Eight gunship helicopters were seen ferrying the troops to Hasal Khel and Bangi Dar towns, just three kilometers (about two miles) from the Afghan border, witnesses said.
The security official said soldiers from the Pakistani army and paramilitary Frontier Corps arrived in the area early Monday to seal escape routes from Afghanistan.
Residents in villages along the border reported hearing gunfire and the roar of warplanes from the Afghan side.
The Afghan Islamic Press, citing residents in Khost, said US and Afghan forces launched "a major operation" using army helicopters in Khost's Shankai area at dawn Monday.
The private Pakistan-based newsagency quoted a Taliban commander Maulawi Abdul Samad saying Taliban fighters fired 20 rockets on Afghan posts in Shankai on Sunday night. There were no reports of casualties.
Southeast Afghanistan has been blighted by a deadly insurgency by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked fighters, many of whom used sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal areas to plan and launch attacks on foreign and local aid workers, officials and troops.
The porous, mountainous border between Pakistani tribal areas and southeast Afghanistan is believed to be the hiding place of fugitive Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Pakistani forces have been stepping up raids and assaults on suspected Al-Qaeda sanctuaries and trainouts in the tribal area since early this year.