KABUL, Nov 20: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Thursday he expected neighbouring Pakistan to cooperate in fighting “terrorism”, and warned that any failure to do so would hurt both countries and the world.

Mr Karzai also said his government, through a commission also including officials from Pakistan and the United States, was working to close down “terrorist” camps in Pakistan where suspected members of the ousted Taliban and Al Qaeda operated.

“We are hopeful that our brothers in Pakistan realise this reality that terrorism is not only harming Afghanistan,” he told reporters at the presidential palace.

“This is harming everybody. It has affected Pakistan and will affect it further and we hope it (will) honestly, sincerely...cooperate with us so that terrorism is stopped and all of us live in tranquillity and happiness.”

Mr Karzai’s comments follow a spate of raids in recent months in which nearly 400 people, including Taliban, civilians, Afghan troops, aid workers, US-led troops and CIA operatives have been killed.

Most of the violence is attributed to guerillas from the Taliban, their Al Qaeda allies or followers of former prime minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

The groups have vowed to topple Karzai’s government and have called for a jihad against foreign troops in Afghanistan. Afghan officials say the attacks are organized in Pakistan where they claim several top Taliban officials operate and live.

“This is correct, it is true,” Karzai responded, when asked about Afghan officials’ complaints regarding the presence of “terrorist” camps in Pakistan.

“We are involved in direct talks with Pakistan about this issue and have asked friendly countries’ cooperation about this.”—Reuters