WORLD> Middle East
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WORLD> Middle East
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Karzai threatens cross-border strikes
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-16 08:06 Afghan President Hamid Karzai yesterday threatened to send troops into neighboring Pakistan to kill Taliban militants if they pursued cross-border attacks into Afghanistan. Self-proclaimed Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud and other Taliban officials in recent weeks have vowed to send fighters into Afghanistan to battle Afghan and foreign forces. "This means that Afghanistan has the right of self defence," Karzai said, when asked to comment on the threats. "When they cross the territory from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and kill coalition troops, it exactly gives us the right to go back and do the same. Therefore, Baitullah Mehsud should know that we will go after him now and hit him in his house." Pakistani officials and Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comments. Pakistan, wary of a backlash from Pashtun tribes living on its long border with Afghanistan, has ruled out allowing foreign troops to operate on its territory, though US forces have carried out several airstrikes inside Pakistan targeting Al-Qaida militants and their allies. Eleven Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed in an air raid by US-led coalition forces against the militants on the border last week. Both Afghanistan and Pakistan, who historically have uneasy ties and border disputes, are allies of the United States in its war against Al-Qaida and the Taliban. Nearly 13,000 people, including hundreds of foreign troops, have been killed in Afghanistan since 2006 when the ousted Afghan Taliban made a comeback. The Afghan government says the Taliban and Al-Qaida members who fled into Pakistan after the fall of the militants' government in Afghanistan in 2001 have support and training bases there. Pakistan concedes some cross border infiltration of militants but wants Afghan government and foreign forces to tighten border controls on their side. |
