Pakistan Wants US To Help Restrict Entry of Terrorists from Afghanistan Border

U.S. Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan James Dobbins held separate meetings with Adviser to the PM on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Army Chief General Raheel Sharif and Interior Minister Choudhry Nisar. In the course of these meetings, Pakistan once again demanded that movement of terrorists from across the Afghanistan border should be checked. Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Tariq Fatemi has said that we wish to improve relations with India and that terrorism is a threat to Pakistan’s existence.

Pakistan is conducting an operation in North Waziristan to put an end to terrorism and is targeting all terrorists without discrimination. The objective of the operation is to render not only Pakistan, but the whole region secure by freeing it of terrorism. However, Afghanistan, itself a victim of terrorism, is providing sanctuaries to terrorists fleeing from Pakistan; these terrorists then find opportunities to re-enter Pakistan in groups across the Afghanistan border to attack security forces, inflicting losses of life and materials on them.

According to a report, approximately 6,000 terrorists have succeeded in taking refuge in Afghanistan after fleeing from North Waziristan. The U.S. objective in attacking Afghanistan was to put an end to terrorism; if the United States now wants peace in Afghanistan and wants to improve conditions in the region, it should take these matters seriously and urge Afghanistan to stop interfering in Pakistan’s affairs.

Pakistan is in favor of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan; toward this end it cooperated in the peaceful transferring of democratic power in Afghanistan and also has indicated that it would work in cooperation with any Afghan government in the future.

James Dobbins needs to take notice of the encouragement being provided to terrorists by Afghanistan and induce the Afghan government to yield wanted terrorists into Pakistan’s custody.

Although India is set on disturbing peace through inflammatory firing at the working boundary and Sialkot sector every other day, Pakistan has indicated its desire to hold peace talks with it also.

The United States should cooperate with Pakistan in its efforts to put an end to terrorism and help stop the movement and attacks of militants from across the border, so that the Pakistan military can make a focused effort on eliminating terrorism.