US Defense Secretary Robert Gates sought Pakistan's support yesterday to prevent an expected Taliban spring offensive in neighboring Afghanistan, saying the allies had the chance to deal a "strategic setback" to the militants.
Gates, on his first visit to Pakistan since becoming Pentagon chief, said he had discussed with President General Pervez Musharraf and US commanders in Afghanistan how to increase pressure on insurgents on both sides of the frontier.
"We talked about the importance of seizing the offensive this spring to deal Taliban and al-Qaeda a strategic setback," Gates told reporters at an air base near the capital Islamabad after the talks with the Pakistani leader.
Gates described Pakistan as a "very strong ally" of the US in its war on terrorism.
Last year saw the deadliest upsurge in violence in neighboring Afghanistan since the hardline regime's ouster five years ago. Pakistan has faced repeated claims that the Taliban militia stage attacks from its border regions against Afghan government, NATO and US-led coalition troops.
Taliban fighters are again expected to step up attacks when warmer weather melts snow in the mountain passes used by the insurgents infiltrating from Pakistan in what could prove a critical year in the Western-backed mission to build a stable democracy in Afghanistan.
Gates said he hoped to play a constructive role in improving the relationship between Musharraf and the Afghan government -- ties frayed by the cross-border violence.
Pakistan insists it is doing all it can to stop cross-border militancy, and has deployed about 80,000 troops along its rugged border with Afghanistan.
But the US military says the use of Pakistan's largely ungoverned Waziristan area as a haven for Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters has worsened since Pakistan put in place a peace agreement there with tribal leaders in September.
US forces in eastern Afghanistan have launched artillery rounds into Pakistan to strike Taliban fighters who attack remote US outposts, the commander of US forces in the region said.
Gates said Musharraf had acknowledged there were problems with the Waziristan agreement and they had discussed ways to enforce it better.
Asked about the artillery fire, Gates said: "Our operations are coordinated with the Pakistanis."
Such firing across the border is a sensitive issue in Pakistan, where opposition to Musharraf's support of the US' war on terror runs high.
Musharraf acknowledged recently that his outgunned Pakistani frontier guards have allowed insurgents to cross the border and said the army soon would fence parts of the border to stem the problem, despite opposition from Afghanistan.
Pakistan is under pressure to take more military action against militants inside its borders -- also a possible hiding place for al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri -- although that risks sparking more violence on its own soil.
An airstrike last month on a suspected al-Qaeda hide-out in South Waziristan killed at least eight people and prompted a top Pakistani militant to threaten revenge. There have since been a series of bombings and suicide attacks, including at an Islamabad hotel and its airport.
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
A powerful magnitude 7.6 earthquake shook Japan’s northeast region late on Monday, prompting tsunami warnings and orders for residents to evacuate. A tsunami as high as three metres (10 feet) could hit Japan’s northeastern coast after an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.6 occurred offshore at 11:15 p.m. (1415 GMT), the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said. Tsunami warnings were issued for the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori and Iwate, and a tsunami of 40cm had been observed at Aomori’s Mutsu Ogawara and Hokkaido’s Urakawa ports before midnight, JMA said. The epicentre of the quake was 80 km (50 miles) off the coast of
A passerby could hear the cacophony from miles away in the Argentine capital, the unmistakable sound of 2,397 dogs barking — and breaking the unofficial world record for the largest-ever gathering of golden retrievers. Excitement pulsed through Bosques de Palermo, a sprawling park in Buenos Aires, as golden retriever-owners from all over Argentina transformed the park’s grassy expanse into a sea of bright yellow fur. Dog owners of all ages, their clothes covered in dog hair and stained with slobber, plopped down on picnic blankets with their beloved goldens to take in the surreal sight of so many other, exceptionally similar-looking ones.
RSS