Lahore, Sept 15 : The US forces deployed along the Pak-Afghan border are facing around 10,000 insurgents on the Pakistani side of the border, said a US commander manning around 19,000 troops in Afghanistan.

He warned that if Pakistan did not step up its fight against terrorists and let terrorists escaping into its territory, then a there was a risk of a new kind of war being broken in the Islamic country.

“A new war could begin if Pakistan does not step up its fight against terrorists. If militants escape into Pakistani territory and Islamabad does not step up, a new kind of war could well begin,” the Daily Times quoted Maj Gen Jeffrey J Schloesser of the US Army as saying in a report published in an American weekly on Sunday.

According to the report, Gen Schloesser estimates that his forces are facing some 7000-10,000 insurgents in eastern Afghanistan, a figure higher number than previously disclosed by any US commander.

He said that he planned to keep his troops operating deep inside Taliban territory this winter.

He also hoped they would be able to take advantage of the mobility to seek out any safe havens and facilitation areas and any places the terrorists can go for ‘rest and recreation’ in Afghanistan. (ANI)