SPIN BOLDAK, Afghanistan - Hunkered down on the Pakistan side of the border, Taliban leaders are busy preparing ammunition, weapons and personnel for war in Afghanistan.
Their movements have raised concern among Canadian commanders in southeastern Afghanistan.
"From Pakistan, they (the Taliban) cross the border (with) their weapons and their ammunition in expectation of fighting a war,'' Maj. Steve Graham, commander of Reconnaissance Squadron with the Royal Canadian Dragoons, said Saturday.
Graham's troops are stationed at the forward operating base near the town of Spin Boldak, five kilometres from the Pakistan border in the southeast district of the Kandahar province.
Since the fall of their regime in 2002, the Taliban have found refuge in Pakistan, where they have established supply centres for weapons, Graham said.
The porous southeast border is an access point for Taliban fighters and other insurgents to cross into Afghanistan without difficulty.
"It's a long (stretch of land),'' Graham said of the 400-kilometre border.
Recent seizures of arms, ammunition and explosives as well as the arrests of insurgents -- at least 20 in the last two months -- represent only the "tip of the iceberg'' of illicit traffic along the southeast boundary, he said.
Afghan forces, present only in small numbers in the region, have not been able to control the flow of migrants and illegal crossings.
Corruption has also become a concern, as many low-income Afghan authorities accept bribes, Graham said.
"The superior officers are working very well and I think they are trying to (curb the problem),'' he said of Afghan authorities.
"But when it comes to the soldiers, their salary is so low that it's very easy for people to put money on the table so they close their eyes and allow crossings.''
Meanwhile, the Taliban are not the only ones who come and go across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Graham said.
Drug traffickers and members of hostile tribal factions are also taking advantage of the long boundary, he said.
