NATO-led forces in Afghanistan have criticized Pakistan for failing to rein in terrorist and militant groups based in Pakistan but operating in neighboring Afghanistan.
A spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, Brigadier General Carsten Jacobsen, said Monday that although “Islamabad has done a lot against such groups and paid a considerable price in blood, there is no question it needs to do more.”
Jacobsen said Pakistan needs to align itself with NATO's mission by denying militants the ability to regroup on its territory.
Meanwhile, Washington appears to be softening its tone of recent weeks by adopting a more conciliatory tone towards U.S.-Pakistan cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, who is due in Islamabad later this week, said the conversation between the two sides is now focused on “how to get our interests shared and then act on them together.”
But he also said Washington will continue to call on Pakistan to end “the safe havens and enablers” that allow militants to carry out cross-border raids into Afghanistan.
Last month, just before retiring, U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen called the al-Qaida- and Taliban-allied Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of Pakistan's military spy agency, the ISI. U.S. officials have long maintained Haqqani militants attack targets in Afghanistan from sanctuaries in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.
Also Monday, Pakistani officials said militants from neighboring Afghanistan attacked a security post in Upper Dir tribal region Sunday night, sparking a clash that killed at least 15 militants and one Pakistani soldier.
Pakistani leaders have protested deadly attacks on the country's tribal region by militants who cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been high since Afghan intelligence officials accused the ISI of involvement in the September 20 killing of Afghan peace envoy and former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.
