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MAMOUZAI, PAKISTAN - A PAKISTANI Taleban commander has vowed to increase attacks on Nato and US forces in Afghanistan and also block their supply lines through Pakistan's tribal areas.
'We will increase attacks on the Nato and US forces based in Afghanistan and the supply of goods from Pakistan to these forces,' Hakeemullah, a Taleban commander, told a group of reporters who were taken on a rare trip to the group's stronghold in Aurakzai tribal region.
The journalists were escorted to the group's hideout from Peshawar on Wednesday, travelling more than eight hours to meet the Taleban leader at Mamouzai.
The AFP journalist on the trip said he saw no law enforcement officials for the final half of the journey to the hideout deep in the mountainous area.
'We will not lay down arms as long as Pakistan's army does not stop operations against us,' Hakeemullah said, adding that his chief Baitullah Mehsud, head of Tehreek-i-Taleban Pakistan, was in good health.
Pakistan briefly barred delivery of fuel tankers and food trucks to Nato and US-led forces this month for security reasons, after Taleban militants in the rugged lawless area hijacked 15 trucks destined for Afghanistan and looted the vehicles.
Pakistan has mounted military operations against militants in the tribal belt, which became a safe haven for hundreds of extremists who fled Afghanistan after the US-led toppling of the hardline Taleban regime in late 2001.
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