Pakistan PM expected to discuss fence with Afghans

KABUL (Reuters) - Pakistan's prime minister arrived in Afghanistan for talks on Thursday days after a Pakistani announcement it would fence and lay landmines on parts of its Afghan border raised tensions between the neighbors.

Ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan, major U.S. allies in the war against terrorism, have deteriorated sharply over the past year, largely because of Afghan anger over the help a resurgent Taliban gets on the Pakistani side of the border.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz was in Afghanistan at the invitation of President Hamid Karzai, an Afghan spokesman said.

"Their talks will involve security, economic cooperation, and the campaign against terrorism. It is clear the two countries will also speak about their concerns and ideas for solving the problems," said Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Sultan Ahmad Bahin.

Facing mounting criticism from Afghanistan and its allies over Taliban sanctuaries, Pakistan said last month it would build a fence and lay landmines on parts of the border to stop militants crossing into Afghanistan.

But Afghanistan, which does not recognize the border, said the fence and mines would unfairly split ethnic Pashtun communities that straddle both sides of the 2,500 km (1,500 mile) frontier.

Afghanistan said action should be taken against militant leaders operating in Pakistan instead of fencing the border.

The border, drawn up by British colonialists in 1893, has bedeviled relations between the two countries since Pakistan's creation in 1947.

More than 4,000 people including nearly 170 foreign troops have been killed in Afghan violence over the past year, the bloodiest since U.S.-led troops overthrew a Taliban government in 2001.