September 18, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 17, 1429

KABUL, Sept 17: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that he had been encouraged by recent Pakistani operations in the areas bordering Afghanistan because these had put pressure on extremists there.

Gates was talking to reporters at the Bagram airbase. When asked about stepped-up US strikes across the border into Pakistan’s tribal areas, he said Washington would work with Islamabad to address the problem of “Taliban safe havens”.

Gates blamed the mounting violence on the tactics of the Taliban and their ability to operate from what he called safe havens in Pakistan.—AFP