Clinton warns of terrorists-pursuit on Afghan-Pakistan border
Kabul, Oct 20 (IANS) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Thursday said terrorists would be targeted in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border areas.
Addressing a joint press conference with President Hamid Karzai during her visit to Afghanistan, she said terrorists were the common enemy of both Afghanistan and Pakistan adding that the two countries were suffering at the hands of terrorists.
‘We have a very clear message to the insurgents on both sides of the border that we are going to fight you and we are going to seek you in your safe havens whether you are in the Afghan side or the Pakistani side,’ Clinton said.
She also said that the US expected Pakistan to take the lead in the war on terror because the terrorists also posed a threat to the Pakistanis as well as to others, and the terrorists were killing the innocent people in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Clinton, who is going to Pakistan later Thursday and will meet with Pakistani leaders, arrived in Kabul Wednesday night.
She exchanged views with Afghan President Karzai on the issues related to Kabul-Washington relations, war on terror, Afghan reconciliation efforts and the situation in Afghanistan.
‘We had comprehensive discussion today. The situation in Afghanistan, Pakistan, situation in the region, Afghan-US relations and strategic partnership with US came under discussion in our meeting today,’ Karzai told journalists.
The visit by the US Secretary of State took place amid increasing militancy and Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network attacks on the US embassy and NATO-led forces headquarters in Kabul Sep 13 which left over a dozen people dead and injured.
She also said that the ‘terrorists are posing threat to both Pakistan and Afghanistan,’ adding, ‘we expect Pakistan to act upon its commitment in fighting terrorism’.
Cliton also said that the US wanted to see a stable Afghanistan free of Al-Qaeda and Taliban insurgents and ‘we do not want terrorists to return to Afghanistan again’.
The US Secretary of State also said that the US would continue to support Afghanistan after 2014 when the withdrawal of NATO-led forces and transferring of security charges to the Afghan government would be completed.