Karzai pushes Pakistan to do more against Taliban
Source: Reuters
By Sayed Salahuddin NEW DELHI, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Friday pressed Islamabad to do more to combat the Taliban and other Islamist militants using Pakistani safe havens to launch cross border attacks. "We are not blaming the government of Pakistan," said Karzai, in India to promote foreign investment and trade at a meeting of regional powers and Kabul's allies. "We are seeking cooperation from Pakistan in better handling violence in Afghanistan," he told a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. "There is violence committed against our people, there is violence committed against our schools, our children, against our clergy, against the reconstruction of Afghanistan, against those who have come to Afghanistan to help Afghanistan develop," Karzai said. Afghanistan accuses Islamabad of not doing enough to stop its one-time protege, the Taliban, and other militant groups operating from its lawless frontier territories. Some Afghan officials accuse Pakistan of still sponsoring the Taliban and India accuses Pakistan of backing Kashmiri separatists fighting New Delhi's rule in the Himalayan territory. Pakistan denies both charges. But senior Afghan intelligence officials say they have firm evidence of official support for the Taliban and other rebels in Afghanistan. Privately, Afghan and Indian officials are also frustrated at what they say is Washington's failure to press Pakistan, a main ally in its war on terror, to do more to rein in militants. Islamabad and Washington point out hundreds of Pakistani soldiers have died fighting rebels and that many Taliban and al Qaeda operatives have been arrested or killed in the country. This year's fighting in Afghanistan is the worst since a U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban's strict Islamist government in 2001. More than 3,700 people have died in fighting this year, about 1,000 of them civilians and more than 150 foreign soldiers. U.S. officials say the Taliban have been bolstered by drugs money and the ability to shelter in Pakistan, although Washington says there is no formal support in Islamabad for the group.
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