WASHINGTON: The White House urged Pakistan on Friday to break any links it has with the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani militant network and to take action to shut down their safe havens along the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the Haqqani network was responsible for the recent attack on the US Embassy in Kabul and other assaults in Afghanistan that have killed American troops.

He said the militants operate from safe havens in Pakistan that Islamabad has failed to shut down.

“It is critical that the government of Pakistan break any links they have and take strong and immediate action against this network so that they are no longer a threat to the United States or to the people of Pakistan, because this network is a threat to both,” he said.