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 militate 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.
PTI
