NATO blasts Pak for failing to rein in terrorists on its soil as US softens tone

Islamabad, Oct 11(ANI): NATO is sharply criticising Pakistan for failing to take on terror groups on its side of the border with Afghanistan, even as the United States is softening its rhetoric in this regard and focusing on shared interests.

Top officers of the NATO-led foreign forces in Afghanistan say that Pakistan needs to do more to rein in militants based on its soil, but operating in the neighbouring war-torn country.

"Pakistan has done a lot against terrorists and insurgents, and paid a considerable price in blood over the last years. There is no question that it is not enough," Voice of America quoted Brigadier General Carsten Jacobsen, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), as saying.

Jacobsen said that Pakistan needs to align itself with the NATO's mission by denying militants the ability to regroup on its territory.

"Whether it is Haqqani, or whether it is the Taliban that are looking for safe haven and training facilities in Pakistan, they have to be fought by all of us - Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the international community," he said.

Last month, just before retiring, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen had said at a Senate hearing that the Haqqani network of terrorists was "a veritable arm" of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and that the Pakistani intelligence agency had directed the militant group's recent attacks at US installations in Kabul.

Mullen's remarks not only caused a diplomatic storm, but also fueled US lawmakers' scepticism about the future of American aid to Pakistan.

However, senior American diplomats now appear to be adopting a more conciliatory tone about US-Pakistan cooperation in the war against terrorism.

The US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, is due later this week in Islamabad. In a interview in Kabul on Saturday, he emphasised that 19,000 Pakistani civilians have been killed since 2003,the report said.

Grossman said that the conversation between the US and Pakistan is now focused on "how to get our interests shared and then act on them together," and stressed the need for engagement between the United States and Pakistan.

Still, Grossman said that Washington would continue "to call on Pakistan to end the safe havens and enablers" that allow militants to carry out guerrilla raids in Afghanistan, then retreat to Pakistan, the report added. (ANI)