WASHINGTON, Dec 30: Welcoming the incoming Obama administration’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said that the existence of alleged safe havens in Fata has allowed the resurgence of the Taliban in the region.

“Part of the problem there is that nobody has been able to deal with the sanctuary across the border in that ungoverned part of Pakistan,” said Ms Rice.

The outgoing secretary of state also welcomed the Obama administration’s decision to send more troops to Afghanistan.

“I do believe that the additional forces that (Defence Secretary) Robert Gates and the military commanders are intending to commit to Afghanistan will help,” she said.

A transcript released by the State Department quoted Ms Rice as telling a US news channel that since Iraqis were now able to take its own responsibilities, the US could afford to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Last week, Mr Gates signed a deployment order to move an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan in 2009. There are already more than 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

She reminded Pakistan that they “have got to get a better handle on what’s going on in the Northwest Frontier, because that is the place from which the Taliban is resurgent.”

She, however, acknowledged that the Afghan government also needed to establish better governance structures.

“Corruption needs to be fought. There’s a lot that needs to be done. But it’s going to be a long struggle in Afghanistan because it’s one of the poorest countries in the world,” she added.

Ms Rice disagreed with the suggestion that had President Bush not invaded Iraq, the situation in Afghanistan would have been better because the invasion drew America’s attention away from Afghanistan.

“It’s really not a question of focus,” she said. “It’s a question of the conditions in Afghanistan principally and most importantly because of the safe haven in Pakistan. And I don’t think that was going to change as a result of more focus.”