Washington, Nov 14: Afghanistan's Foreign Minister turned up the diplomatic heat on Pakistan, calling for a crackdown on Taliban leaders using Pakistani territory to incite holy war, a day before he is expected at the White House. Abdullah Abdullah bolstered a call he made for the first time during his trip to Washington on Monday, when he called for "meaningful help" from Islamabad on Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents believed to be slipping over the Pakistani-Afghan border at will.
"There is one clear fact, that the Taliban will not be able to operate outside Afghanistan without some support from some elements outside Afghanistan," Abdullah said in a speech to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
"They have found it easy to operate outside Afghanistan, to hold meetings, to incite instability, to call for jihad in Afghanistan."
Pressed on which country he was referring to, Abdullah said "we are engaging with all our neighbors, especially with our neighboring country Pakistan, because most of these people are in Pakistan."
Pakistan does not deny the presence of Taliban and al-Qaeda forces in tribal border areas, over which the government in Islamabad sometimes has little or no direct control.
But it says it is doing all it can to capture the militants and wants more help from US and Afghan forces.
Bureau Report