KABUL, May 21: Leaders of the Taliban movement and Al Qaeda are living in Pakistan where they organise attacks in Afghanistan, the Afghan foreign minister said on Sunday, in the latest in a war of words between the neighbours.

“We know that the ideological leadership and also political leadership or military leadership of the Taliban and also other international terrorist groups ... are living in Pakistan,” Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta told a news conference.

Asked if militant attacks against Afghan and US-led troops were orchestrated in Pakistan, he said: “Exactly, that is the case.”

Spanta, who became foreign minister last month, said he would travel to Pakistan in coming weeks and ask Islamabad to “decisively” campaign against the militants.

He said Afghanistan wanted friendship with Pakistan and that was only possible with mutual respect and security.

Spanta said that both Afghanistan and India were victims of terrorism and organised crime and needed close relations. But he said Pakistan need not be alarmed by the close ties between New Delhi and Kabul.

“Common risks, whether terrorism or organised crime, threaten both countries and for this reason the two countries should cooperate, strategically and defensively,” he said.—Reuters