US military to work more closely with Pak forces against insurgents along Afghan border

ISLAMABAD - The US military will start carrying out more counterterrorism missions against insurgents in eastern Afghanistan and work more closely with the Pakistani forces in operations against insurgents along the porous and rugged frontier, a top US general has said.

Major General John Campbell, Commander of the NATO coalition forces in eastern Afghanistan, said that he has been repositioning some of his troops since last August to make them more effective in the region that borders Pakistan, The Nation reports.

The area has seen an upsurge in violence and is a main route for insurgents from safe havens in Pakistan’s lawless tribal regions infiltrating into Afghanistan.

According to a recent The New York Times report, terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal areas are a major factor behind the latest suicide terror attacks in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Analysts in Kabul say that while US troops have made clear gains in uprooting the Taliban from Kandahar and large areas of Helmand Province in Afghanistan, Pakistan has not made similar strides in ousting the Taliban from its tribal areas, the report said.

The Haqqani network, among the most brutal, still remains anchored in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region despite a stream of drone strikes by the Central Intelligence Agency, it added.

“You still have two major factors,” US Army veteran General (r) Keane said, “the ineffectiveness of the central government and the Pakistani sanctuaries.” (ANI)