Pakistan’s efforts helping the fight in Afghanistan: US
By Anwar Iqbal
WASHINGTON, May 1: Pakistan’s counter-terrorism efforts in the tribal belt have helped the US-led fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan, says an official US report.
The US State Department’s country reports on terrorism, released on Monday evening, also expressed strong support for the present administrative set-up in Pakistan, pointing out that “President Gen Musharraf remained a forceful advocate for his vision of ‘enlightened moderation,’ calling on Pakistanis to reject extremism and terrorist violence.”
In the first official acknowledgement of Islamabad’s effort to help the US-led fight in Afghanistan, the department conceded that Pakistan conducted “operations throughout the year against both Al Qaeda and Taliban command and control capabilities” and that such efforts “helped disrupt support for the anti-Coalition insurgency in Afghanistan and anti-militant activity in Pakistan.”
The report also noted that in the Fata the Sustainable Development Plan was undergoing a final review before being presented to the Pakistani public and the international community.
The US State Department called Pakistan “a frontline partner” in the war on terror but noted with concern that international terrorist groups, such as Al Qaeda, continued to carry out attacks inside the country.
“Attacks occurred with greatest frequency in the regions bordering Afghanistan: Balochistan, NWFP, and the Fata.”
In November, a suicide bomber killed 43 army recruits and injured more than 40 others at a Pakistani military training facility in Dargai, NWFP, in retaliation for raids on Al Qaeda installations, the State Department said.
