Pakistan stopped all trade, except for food, to Afghanistan yesterday and began sending more police to its Northwest Frontier province to implement a new order confining 1.2 million Afghan refugees to the dozens of camps that are scattered throughout the province.
With the exception of food, nothing else is getting through the border, including hundreds of Afghans trying to cross into Pakistan, said Farooq Shah, border official at Torkham, the Pakistani border town.
The closure of the border was one of several requests made of Pakistan by the US. Other requests include use of Pakistan's airspace and soil, as well as an exchange of intelligence material -- all in preparation of a possible retaliatory strike against Afghanistan for the deadly terrorist attacks on US soil.
On Sunday, refugees, who usually move freely, were ordered to stay within the camp limits by the provincial government, which called it a precautionary measure in the event of a US strike on neighboring Afghanistan.
The order to seal the camps was intended to ensure "that the terrorists and subversive elements are strictly checked," said government officials.
Pakistan worries that those loyal to the Taliban among the refugees might turn violent if the US uses either Pakistani airspace or soil to attack Afghanistan. Also, there is a fear of bombings staged by disgruntled Afghans in the event of an attack, say the provincial authorities.
Bombings in Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's frontier province, a the foot of the famed Khyber pass, are not uncommon.
In the refugee camps, there was anger and dismay at the new orders.
"If we don't go outside the camps how will we feed our children?" asked Aziz, a 43-year-old refugee who like many Afghans uses only one name. "We are people and we are not creating any problems for Pakistan."
The order was the latest manifestation of rapidly changing conditions along the Afghan-Pakistani border since Pakistan agreed to "full cooperation" with Washington in the event of a US retaliatory strike on Afghanistan.
According to reports from the troubled border that separates the two countries, both Pakistan and Afghanistan have begun adding troops and weaponry along their 2,500km border.
Afghans, fearing a US strike, have been lining up at border crossings trying to enter Pakistan.
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is trying to bring the country's Islamic parties and political groups on board his decision to help the US.
In Peshawar the government fears that Islamic radicals could whip up anti-Pakistan sentiment among Afghan refugees in the event of a US attack.
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