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Kabul: Hundreds of Afghans gathered in eastern Afghanistan on Monday in support of President Hamid Karzai's threat to send troops after Taliban militants inside Pakistan.
Ghami Mohammad Yar, spokesman for the governor of Paktika province, which borders Pakistan, said hundreds of tribesmen, elders and clerics had gathered at the governor's compound to express support for Karzai.
"We are ready to sacrifice, like before, for the protection of our homeland borders," Yar said, referring to the resistance against Soviet invaders in the late 1980s.
Mohammad Akram Akhpelwak, Paktika's governor, said gatherings of support were being held in three other areas of Paktika.
Karzai on Sunday threatened to send Afghan troops to fight notorious Taliban leaders inside Pakistan in an angry warning that he will no longer tolerate cross-border attacks.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammed Sadiq said Monday his office would issue a formal response to Karzai, but that, "we think that he did not use his best judgment by making this statement."
Sadiqul Farooq, spokesman for the second biggest party in Pakistan's new coalition government, condemned Karzai's comments.
Pakistan is a sovereign state and no one should be allowed "to violate the international border," said Farooq, spokesman for the Pakistan Muslim League-N party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
A spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, Pakistan's Taliban movement, warned of an escalation in Taliban attacks against Nato and Afghan forces if Karzai sends forces across the border.
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