Pakistan has started fencing parts of its western border with Afghanistan to stop Al Qaeda and Taliban men from mounting attacks on Afghan targets and US-led forces, the Pakistan military officials said on Wednesday. Military spokesman Major-General Shaukat Sultan said new searchlight towers and checkpoints were also being set up along the Afghan border in southwestern Balochistan province. He did not say how long the fence would be. The Balochistan border accounts for about half of the 2,450-km (1,520-mile) frontier. The move comes after growing calls from US and Afghan officials for Pakistan to take steps to stop armed infiltration into Afghan territory. Pakistan, a key ally in the US-led war on terror, has deployed thousands of troops along its Afghan frontier, but has been accused of being half-hearted in combating Taliban fighters, whose regime in Afghanistan it backed until the Sept 11 attacks in 2001. Since early August, Afghanistan has been hit by its worst wave of attacks since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. Also the Afghan President Hamid Karzai last month told US President George W. Bush he was concerned that support for the Taliban was being preached by some in Pakistan's border region. Earlier this month, the Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review magazine reported that the Taliban had bought more than 1,000 motorcycles over the past three months in Quetta region. Citing Western and Afghan intelligence sources, it said these would be used to transport up to 2,500 guerillas across the border to attack the Afghan military and the 11,500-strong US-led foreign force in the country. **PHOTO CAPTION*** The hard-line militia which was ousted from power in December 2001 after seven years controlling most of Afghanistan are attempting a resurgence mainly in the southern and eastern parts of the country bordering Pakistan. (AFP/file/Rahimullah)