Pakistani officials voiced fears that a US-led offensive in southern Afghanistan could force Taliban fighters into this nation’s restive southwest, but said they had not asked the Americans to stop or slow the operation.
The concerns surfaced on Wednesday during a visit to Pakistan by special US envoy Richard Holbrooke, who assured Islamabad of Washington’s desire to coordinate on anti-militant operations, even as he noted that the Taliban still move freely across the Pakistan-Afghan border.
“We want to be sure that we share [military plans] with your government and your military ... so you can be prepared and coordinate, because a lot of different things can happen here,” he told reporters after meeting with Pakistan’s prime minister.
The US is keen on ensuring Pakistan’s cooperation in its efforts to stabilize Afghanistan. For years, attempts to crack down on militants in Afghanistan have been undermined by their ability to find safe havens across the border in Pakistan.
Pakistan’s role is especially critical now that the US has sent thousands more troops to Afghanistan to take on a resurgent Taliban.
Early this month, some 4,000 US Marines launched an operation against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, which borders Pakistan’s Baluchistan Province.
A senior Pakistani intelligence official said Islamabad has “reservations” about the Helmand offensive because militants crossing the border could further destabilize Baluchistan, long the scene of a low-level insurgency by nationalist groups seeking more autonomy.
NATO’s spokesman in Afghanistan, Brigadier General Eric Tremblay, said so far there was no sign that significant numbers of Taliban fighters were fleeing into Pakistan from Helmand and most were heading for safe havens “that are yet to be cleared” by NATO and Afghan forces.
Pakistani officials agreed, but said they had sent more troops to the 260km-long stretch of border from other parts of the northwest.
If a significant influx does occur, Pakistan may be forced to move troops from its border with India, the intelligence official said, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Despite Pakistan’s unease, a government security official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity for the same reason, said Islamabad had not asked the US to stop or slow down the Helmand offensive. The operation is considered a key test of US counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan and the US would likely have rejected any such request.
Meanwhile, the commander of the Taliban in Pakistan’s Swat valley is alive and has not been wounded, contrary to reports by the military, his spokesman said yesterday.
The military said early this month that it believed it had wounded the commander, named Fazlullah, who has been on the run since April.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was