Washington's special envoy to Afghanistan said Monday that Pakistan
must prove it wants an end to the war by preventing militants from
hiding out on its soil and enabling those who launch attacks on the
Afghan side of the border.
Marc Grossman, U.S. special
representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in Kabul that
discussions among Afghanistan, Pakistan and the United States being
held this week in the Afghan capital are important to coordinate
efforts to find a political resolution to the nearly decade-long war.
He
said they also are an opportunity to clearly convey to Pakistani
officials that part of their responsibility for bringing peace is to
stop supporting insurgent safe havens and those who attack Afghans and
international forces in Afghanistan.
"We've been pretty clear
that going forward here, we want the government of Pakistan to
participate positively in the reconciliation process," Grossman said at
a news conference. "Pakistan now has important choices to make."
Grossman
and representatives from more than 40 nations are attending a meeting
of the International Contact Group. The group's 11th meeting comes
after President Barack Obama announced last week he was ordering 10,000
U.S. troops home by year's end; as many as 23,000 more are to leave by
September 2012. That would leave 68,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
The
33,000 total to be withdrawn is the number Obama sent as reinforcements
in December 2009 as part of an effort to reverse the Taliban's momentum
and hasten an eventual political settlement of the conflict. The U.S.
and its allies plan a full combat withdrawal by the end of 2014.
Michael
Steiner, German representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said at
the news conference that the international community's engagement will
not end in 2014, when Afghan security forces are to have the lead
responsibility for security across the nation, a process he said is on
track.
"I think we have a strategy which is working despite the
difficulties we have," Steiner said. "I am not painting here any
illusions. We will have problems ahead. But I think we have a realistic
strategy."
Separately, the U.N. World Food Program announced
Monday it will cut food assistance to more than 3 million Afghans in
about half the country's 34 provinces because of a shortage of money
from donor nations.
The U.N. agency said it had planned to help
feed more than 7 million people in Afghanistan this year, but a
shortage of donor funds means only 3.8 million people will be helped
through meals provided at schools and training and work programs. It
said it needed an additional $220 million to continue its work in
Afghanistan at the level originally planned.
The program will
focus food assistance on helping the most needy Afghans, especially
women and children, said Bradley Guerrant, the agency's deputy country
director.
"We are working hard to raise the funds needed to restart these activities as soon as we can," he said.
Also,
two roadside bomb blasts killed seven civilians Monday in Ghazni
province in eastern Afghanistan, the Interior Ministry said. A vehicle
struck one of the bombs in Qarabagh district, killing four civilians,
including two children, the ministry said. Another vehicle hit a
roadside bomb in Ghazni city, killing three civilians. AP
