Pakistan's parliament will meet today amidst unprecedented security to receive a rare briefing by its new military spy chief on the war on terror.

Thousands of army and paramilitary troops were deployed on the streets of Islamabad, the capital, helicopters patrolled the skies and roads around parliament were blocked by barbed wire.

It will be the first time the lawmakers and country’s top politicians have been briefed by the army about the security situation in the restive tribal region along the Afghanistan border, seen as a haven for al Queda and the Taleban.

Lieutenant-General Ahmad Shujaa Pasha, who was appointed director general of the Inter-Services Intelligence last week, will brief an in-camera joint session of the upper and lower houses of parliament in only the third such session since 1974.

It was called after the recent series of terrorist attacks in Islamabad and other parts of the country which have killed hundreds of people. A suicide bomb attack this week on the house of a member of parliament in Bhakar, a town in central Punjab killed more than 30 people.

Analysts said the rise in militant violence could be in response to the military operation against Islamic militants in the tribal areas. Thousands of Pakistani troops, backed by helicopter gunship and air force jets are engaged in intense fighting in Bajaur, Swat and other areas where it is estimated that over 1000 militants have been killed since August. The fighting has forced hundreds and thousands of people to flee their homes.

The briefing takes place as thousands of Afghan refugees ordered out of Pakistan have begun flooding back into their homeland. More than 2 million Afghans had taken refuge in northern Pakistan after the 1980s in the wake of the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. However this week the government ordered 50,000 refugees to leave the Bajur tribal region accusing them of being involved in terrorist activities.

The military campaign has divided the country with many opposition political leaders calling on the government to halt it and to negotiate peace with the Islamic insurgents.

The growing US predator attacks against suspected terrorist sanctuaries inside Pakistani tribal areas have further fuelled anti- American sentiments in the country. The US and NATO officials maintain the sanctuaries were being used for the cross border attacks on coalition forces in Afghanistan. Tension has mounted with the increasing civilian casualties.

The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has come under increasing criticism for its cooperation with the United States. This week the government agreed to a joint patrolling of the border by Pakistan and NATO forces.

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