US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates warned yesterday that Taliban havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer “more lethal and more brazen” attacks.
Writing in Pakistan’s The News at the start of a two-day visit to Islamabad, Gates stressed Washington’s commitment to Pakistan and praised military offensives launched against the Pakistani Taliban in recent months.
But US officials have made clear that Washington is anxious to see Islamabad also target the Afghan Taliban within its borders and al-Qaeda-linked militants using the northwest tribal region to plot and launch attacks into Afghanistan.
“It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda, so it is impossible to separate those groups,” Gates wrote.
“If history is any indication, safe havens for either Taliban, on either side of the border, will in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both nations,” he wrote.
Making distinctions between the different extremist groups was “counterproductive,” he wrote.
However, Pakistani army spokesman General Athar Abbas told reporters traveling with Gates yesterday that the army can’t launch any new offensives against militants for six months to a year to give it time to stabilize existing gains.
His comments make clear that Pakistan will remain focused in the short-term on operations targeting militants waging war against the state, not those using its territory to launch cross-border attacks against coalition troops in Afghanistan.
Gates was scheduled to meet Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari yesterday, as well as army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar and intelligence chief Lieutenant General Ahmed Shuja Pasha.
In a bid to shore up the US image in Pakistan, the Americans have organized an event with a military audience today, where the Pentagon chief will give a speech and take questions from the audience.
In related news, NATO is planning to create a top civilian post in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, amid calls for improved political and development coordination in the country.
It said British Ambassador to Kabul Mark Sedwill was the front-runner for the job, which could be announced to coincide with an international conference on the future of Afghanistan to be held in London next Thursday.
“The new appointee would head the civilian pillar of the US-led coalition’s work here, directing the flow of funds and aid to the provinces and — if necessary — bypassing corrupt Afghan institutions,” the paper said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month called for the appointment of a top civilian official within the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to help the coordination of political and development efforts.
The Journal said the new position would be a civilian counterpart to US General Stanley McChrystal, the top commander for the 113,000 US and NATO troops in Afghanistan.
The Journal said the civilian coordinator would help enact the so-called civilian surge, helping the reconstruction of areas that have been cleared of insurgents.
A final decision has yet to be made, but the paper said the plan to appoint Sedwill was backed by the US and was likely to be endorsed by its allies. The new appointee would have greater authority than NATO’s current senior civilian representative in Kabul, Fernando Gentilini of Italy, who was expected to leave Kabul after the London conference, the report said.
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