July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

KABUL, July 1: Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed an operation by Pakistani forces against militants in a tribal district near their shared border but urged Islamabad to expand the hunt.

Pakistan launched an offensive in the Khyber region at the weekend.

“Afghanistan’s government welcomes in principle the military operation there,” US-installed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told journalists in Kabul.

“But we know this is not enough,” Hamidzada said, calling for an “expanded, serious and broad action against terrorist hideouts inside Pakistani soil.” The spokesman reiterated accusations that militants based in Pakistani tribal regions were crossing the border to launch attacks on Afghan and international forces.—AFP