Washington: Continued presence of terrorist safe havens and role of certain
"actors" in Pakistan remains a challenge in the war against terror, a US defence
official has said.
"The concern about the role of safe havens in Pakistan and the role of actors
in Pakistan, including the Haqqani Network, the Afghan Taliban who are located
primarily, the leadership is located either in the south or in the north around
Peshawar, that remains a significant challenge," a senior defense official said
at a Pentagon briefing.
Pentagon has sent its six-monthly report to the Congress on progress made in
Afghanistan, the official said, adding that the United States is looking for
continued and increased cooperation with the Pakistanis on the border.
"As we’ve seen it some areas; other areas we’ve seen it doing very well in
some areas; other areas it’s gotten better; other areas we’re seeking much more
improvement.
That’s something that we continue to look at very closely. It’s certainly an
area of strategic risk," the official said.
"At the same time, given the progress that we’ve made in areas that we’ve put
our effort into over the last 18 months ... are we through that success on the
ground able to mitigate that?"
One of the keys is the fact that some of the people who are coming in to
reintegrate were in Pakistan before, the official said adding that there was a
recent ceremony in Kandahar where a group of about 40 or 50 Taliban fighters
appear to have come in and reintegrated.
"So as we see more and more of the numbers are still small, but the numbers
appear to be increasing, and that’s the kind of thing that can mitigate against
a risk of those existing safe havens. But it’s still going to be a huge
challenge."
In its report on ’Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan’
submitted to the Congress, the Pentagon said there are significant hurdles to
reaching the vision of pursuing a long-term US-Pakistani strategic partnership
based on a foundation of "mutual interest, mutual respect, and mutual trust
guides a whole-of-government, civilian-military effort."
"The history of US-Pakistani relations is fraught with negative perceptions
on both sides, leading many in both countries to see the others’ pursuit of
strategic objectives as being driven by transitory national security interests,"
the report said.
"To date, efforts on both sides have yielded some progress in improving this
relationship. However, it will take a long-term relationship to overcome years
of mistrust in order to achieve a long-term strategic partnership based on
mutual interests," Pentagon said.
However, it did not mention any specific incident in this regard.
Pentagon said within its borders, Pakistan has a pivotal role to play in US
efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al-Qaeda and its affiliates; to help
bring about and ensure a durable political solution in Afghanistan; and to
promote and sustain long-term regional stability.
"The long-term goal is for the US strategy to lead to enduring linkages
between the United States and Pakistan; stronger trade and investment ties;
continued and deepened military and intelligence relations that support regional
stability; and a secure Pakistan linked to its neighbors through a growing
economy enabled by improved security," the report said.
"There are significant hurdles to reaching that vision," it added.
The US approach with Pakistan is to build an effective partnership that
advances both interests of both the nations.
"Central to this effort is aligning both US and Pakistani interests in the
near-term with respect to denying safe haven to all violent extremist
organisations. Although great strides have been made in the US-Pakistani
bilateral relationship over the past two years, heightened sensitivities
regarding Pakistani sovereignty can set back this progress," the report
added. Online
