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Pakistan, India hold key to Afghan peace: Panetta | The Nation
WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday he was very concerned about attacks on US and Nato troops by their Afghan allies and the impact they are having on cooperation.
Our enemies have attempted to undermine the trust between the coalition and the Afghan forces and in particular they have tried to take credit for a number of so-called green-on-blue or insider attacks that are taking place this fighting season, he told reporters.
Make no mistake about it, Ive been very concerned about these incidents, because of the lives lost and because of the potential damage to our partnership efforts, he said.
Flanked by Martin E Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Panetta said Pakistan and India can jointly maintain peace in the region. He said that there are some elements in the US which can hamper war efforts.
We will cooperate with the Afghan government as we want peace in Afghanistan, he said, adding that the US had held talks with Pakistani leadership on mutual interests.
The US defence secretary said Pakistan has told the US that it plans to launch combat operations against Taliban militants soon in a tribal area near the Afghan border that also serves as a haven for leaders of the Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani network.
Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani discussed the planned operation in recent conversations with top American commander in Afghanistan Gen John Allen, Panetta said.
He said he did not know when the Pakistani operation would start, but he understands it will be in near future, and the main target will be the Pakistani Taliban, rather than the Haqqani network.
Theyve talked about it for a long time. Frankly, Id lost hope that they were going do anything about it. But it does appear that they in fact are going to take that step.
Panetta also revealed that the US is providing additional military assistance to peacekeeping forces in Egypts Sinai Peninsula to strengthen security in the region. But, he said that so far the Pentagon had not moved to send additional US troops to the Sinai.
We just want to make sure that we know how those forces are deployed in order to insure that we can more effectively go after those terrorists that would try to create an incident or terrorist act, Panetta said.
In Kabul, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has rejected some Afghan media reports that Nato-led troops were planning to conduct joint operations with the Pakistani military inside that country.
This is not true. Isaf, by its mandate, is only permitted to conduct operations inside Afghanistan, said Brig Gen Gunter Katz, the spokesperson for multinational force.
Earlier, some media outlets, citing a recent meeting between Wolesi Jirga Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi and Isaf Commander Gen John R Allen, hinted at the joint cross-border offensive.
Katz said the meeting was incorrectly reported. Isaf continues to dialogue with the Pakistani military through the Tripartite Commission on ways to improve the security situation along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Part of this effort included discussion of coordinating Isaf and Pakistani military operations on their respective sides of the border, as well as establishing border coordination centers, he added.
But Isaf forces are not planning to conduct operations inside Pakistan, the spokesman said, saying Allen and Ibrahimi discussed recent cross-border fire in Kunar. They agreed that this issue must be brought to the Tripartite Commission.
WASHINGTON - US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday he was very concerned about attacks on US and Nato troops by their Afghan allies and the impact they are having on cooperation.
Our enemies have attempted to undermine the trust between the coalition and the Afghan forces and in particular they have tried to take credit for a number of so-called green-on-blue or insider attacks that are taking place this fighting season, he told reporters.
Make no mistake about it, Ive been very concerned about these incidents, because of the lives lost and because of the potential damage to our partnership efforts, he said.
Flanked by Martin E Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Panetta said Pakistan and India can jointly maintain peace in the region. He said that there are some elements in the US which can hamper war efforts.
We will cooperate with the Afghan government as we want peace in Afghanistan, he said, adding that the US had held talks with Pakistani leadership on mutual interests.
The US defence secretary said Pakistan has told the US that it plans to launch combat operations against Taliban militants soon in a tribal area near the Afghan border that also serves as a haven for leaders of the Qaeda-affiliated Haqqani network.
Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani discussed the planned operation in recent conversations with top American commander in Afghanistan Gen John Allen, Panetta said.
He said he did not know when the Pakistani operation would start, but he understands it will be in near future, and the main target will be the Pakistani Taliban, rather than the Haqqani network.
Theyve talked about it for a long time. Frankly, Id lost hope that they were going do anything about it. But it does appear that they in fact are going to take that step.
Panetta also revealed that the US is providing additional military assistance to peacekeeping forces in Egypts Sinai Peninsula to strengthen security in the region. But, he said that so far the Pentagon had not moved to send additional US troops to the Sinai.
We just want to make sure that we know how those forces are deployed in order to insure that we can more effectively go after those terrorists that would try to create an incident or terrorist act, Panetta said.
In Kabul, the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) has rejected some Afghan media reports that Nato-led troops were planning to conduct joint operations with the Pakistani military inside that country.
This is not true. Isaf, by its mandate, is only permitted to conduct operations inside Afghanistan, said Brig Gen Gunter Katz, the spokesperson for multinational force.
Earlier, some media outlets, citing a recent meeting between Wolesi Jirga Speaker Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi and Isaf Commander Gen John R Allen, hinted at the joint cross-border offensive.
Katz said the meeting was incorrectly reported. Isaf continues to dialogue with the Pakistani military through the Tripartite Commission on ways to improve the security situation along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
Part of this effort included discussion of coordinating Isaf and Pakistani military operations on their respective sides of the border, as well as establishing border coordination centers, he added.
But Isaf forces are not planning to conduct operations inside Pakistan, the spokesman said, saying Allen and Ibrahimi discussed recent cross-border fire in Kunar. They agreed that this issue must be brought to the Tripartite Commission.
