US concerned about Afghan border security
Rumsfeld for expanding security force
Karzai seeks stricter Pakistani approach toward Taliban
KABUL: Concerns persist about security at Afghanistan’s borders and terrorists’ infiltration of the country, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Sunday.
“It is something that requires continuing attention,” Mr Rumsfeld said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital. “It’s happening all across the globe. It proves the point that the global war on terror is not a problem in one country or for one country.”
President Karzai said he hoped for results from Pakistan’s promise to step up efforts against Taliban militants crossing into Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai said General Pervez Musharraf had promised that Pakistan would do all it could to stop “terrorist” activities along the border. “We are hoping that this cooperation would increase further between Afghanistan and Pakistan and also with the United States,” he said.
“We believe that a joint fight against terrorism between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the US and the rest of the region is entirely ... in the interests of all the countries and international peace. We are hopeful that the stricter approach by Pakistan against the Taliban incursions into Afghanistan, against terrorism would produce the desired results,” he said.
“We are definitely concerned about the increased activity of the Taliban on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” Mr Karzai said. Mr Karzai said in an interview with Canadian television on Saturday that Afghanistan could not hope to conquer terrorism without the “sincere” support of Pakistan. “This menace of terrorism...can’t go away unless the countries in this region, especially Pakistan and Afghanistan, cooperate with each other in a sincere, honest manner,” he said.
Mr Rumsfeld also said at Sunday’s press conference he was hopeful NATO might expand peacekeeping operations outside the Afghan capital, but that security was primarily the responsibility of Afghans. The Afghan government, the UN and aid agencies have long appealed for peacekeepers to be deployed outside Kabul, and hopes this might happen have risen since NATO took command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in August.
“I certainly agree that an expansion of ISAF would be a good thing,” Mr Rumsfeld said in response to a question. “For whatever reason, there have not been countries lining up to expand ISAF, but it strikes me that... there is at least the possibility of somewhat of an expansion. But in the last analysis, the security in Afghanistan is the responsibility of the Afghan people.”
He made no mention of Washington’s plans to increase aid to Afghanistan, which President George Bush is expected to announce soon. The Bush administration said in July it was preparing a $1 billion aid package for schools, roads and other projects.
Scores of residents demonstrated in Kabul on Sunday against the presence of US-led forces in Afghanistan and some, unhappy with Mr Karzai’s failure to bring security to many parts of the country, called for the return of the Taliban.
Hours before Mr Rumsfeld arrived, the Afghan government said it had foiled a Taliban attack on the Zeelok district headquarters in Paktika province near the Pakistani border. US military spokesman said between 10 and 26 “enemy fighters” were believed killed in clashes overnight in the Dai Chopan district of Zabul. —AFP/AP/Reuters |
