The United States might have to continue airstrikes in Afghanistan through the Muslim holy month of Ramzan because of the terrorist threat, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday.
Rumsfeld made his remarks on a visit to Pakistan for talks with President Pervez Musharraf who had suggested that maintaining military operations through Ramzan might have a "huge negative fallout" among Muslim states.
The US official said Washington was "sensitive" to the feeling of Islamabad and other Muslim supporters about Ramzan which starts in mid-November.
But he added, "The reality is that the threat of additional terrorist acts are there. They are credible, they are real and they offer the prospect of still thousands more people being killed."
"Our task is certainly to be sensitive to the views of the region but also to see that we aggressively deal with the terrorist networks that exist."

Bureau Report