WASHINGTON, March 14: Two senior US officials –- the secretary of defence and the military chief -– have once again accused Pakistan of allowing the Taliban and Al Qaeda to continue their activities in tribal areas.
"Taliban and Al Qaeda are both using some of the wild areas on the Pakistani side of the border as havens," said Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates in an interview to the Pentagon television channel.
"It is proper for us to point out to President Musharraf that people are continuing to come across the border," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Peter Pace told the Chicago Tribune.
"There clearly is a problem along the Pakistani border. Now, we're working with the Pakistanis to try and deal with that problem," Mr Gates added.
Gen Pace said that a controversial treaty that President Musharraf signed with tribal chiefs in North Waziristan had not produced the results that the Pakistani leader hoped it would in reducing cross-border attacks by Taliban and Al Qaeda insurgents.
Under the treaty, Pakistan withdrew its troops from the area in exchange for a vow by the tribal leaders to help fight militants.
Mr Gates, however, disagreed with the suggestion that the Pakistan government was assisting Al Qaeda insurgents. "I think that individuals do and they have a variety of fronts and other ways that they get money. Similarly, I think the Taliban are pretty much on their own, nobody much liked their governance in Afghanistan."
Asked about support from US allies for the war effort in Afghanistan, he said: "Actually, several countries have stepped up their commitments in Afghanistan in the last two or three weeks, the Australians, the British and others have announced that they're sending more troops into Afghanistan."
"... It really is consistent, I think, with our strategy that when it comes to dealing with terrorists, it's better to fight on their 10 yards line than to fight on our 10 yards line, and Nato has embraced that mission and so all of Nato countries in one way or another engaged in Afghanistan, as well as a number of countries from Europe and elsewhere that aren't members of Nato," Mr Gates said.
"I think this is very important in terms of the legitimacy of the Afghan government, but also in terms of the effectiveness of overall activities in Afghanistan, both the fighting and economic development," he added.
