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| India-Pakistan |
| Pakistani PM Visits US During Tension in Counter-Terror Alliance |
| 2008-07-27 |
| Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is expected to meet with top U.S. officials in Washington this week, including President George Bush. His visit comes during new tensions among Afghan, Pakistani and U.S. officials over how to counter a growing Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan. VOA's Barry Newhouse reports from Islamabad. Taliban fighters in Afghanistan launch new offensives each summer when warm weather eases travel and clears passes in the country's rugged mountains. But the summer of 2008 has been particularly violent, with a 40 percent increase in attacks in eastern Afghanistan over the previous year. Just across the border in Pakistan, Taliban militants have expanded their territory and now control large parts of the country's remote tribal areas. Officials in northwestern Pakistan say Taliban influence is spreading out from the tribal regions into larger towns. U.S. and Afghan officials say countering the Taliban in Afghanistan will require depriving insurgents of their strongholds in Pakistan's tribal areas. Afghan President Hamid Karzai says militants who use those bases to launch attacks across the border are his country's most serious threat. "The fight against terrorism is not in Afghanistan and we will not be secure and safe unless Afghanistan and the international community address the question of sanctuaries in Pakistan and the terrorist training camps there," he said." But Afghan and Pakistani officials not only argue over what to do about the Taliban sanctuaries, but also who is to blame for the militants' growth. In the past month, officials from both countries have accused their counterparts of supporting Taliban factions. Afghan officials even directly accused Pakistan's military and intelligence services of participating in the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul. Pakistan rejected the allegations. |
| Posted by:Fred |