US tells Afghan, Pakistan tackle counter-terrorism

The United States Tuesday urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to increase their cooperation on counterterrorism issues and respect the territorial integrity of each other.

“Both sides need to respect sovereignty, territorial integrity but they need to work together in how they are each going to deal with the problems on their own sides of the border,” the State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters.

The US statement comes amidst Pakistani allegations that Afghan and NATO forces are not taking action against the alleged Taliban safe heavens inside Afghanistan, while Kabul accusing Islamabad of indulging in heavy shelling across the border resulting in fleeing of civilians to safety.

“Our pitch will be again for increased cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan on these terrorist issues, working together through the core group in a trilateral way, NATO, ISAF, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

“To try to deal with terrorism on both sides of the border and it speaks to why we have got to get back on track in our own CT (counter-terrorism) cooperation with Pakistan,” she said.