The US government urged Pakistan on Friday to prevent displaced Haqqani militants from returning to their traditional sanctuary after a Pakistani military offensive near the Afghanistan border.
"What we´ve asked for is that the Haqqanis, yes they´ve been displaced, yes they´ve been disrupted, but that they not be allowed to regroup and resettle back into those historical areas," said Jeffrey Eggers from the White House´s National Security Council, speaking at a security forum in Colorado.
Islamabad has said it would target any militants, including the Haqqanis, as they proceed with the military operation.
Pakistan´s envoy to Washington, Jalil Abbas Jilani, sitting alongside Eggers and others at the event, acknowledged that Haqqani fighters almost certainly fled the region ahead of the military operation because it was pre-announced.
But Jilani also urged more to be done across the border in Afghanistan to deal with any militants who may have fled there.
"We are having good cooperation but I think something more is required to be done in order to make sure that the successes... are conclusive," Jilani said.
John Allen, the retired four-star general who led US and NATO forces in Afghanistan said: "when I was commander there, the Haqqani killed or wounded over 500 of my troops. And the operations in Waziristan somehow missed them every time they conducted ops on the eastern side of the border."
(Reuters)
