CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) Chief Mike Pompeo has warned Pakistan that if it does not eliminate the alleged safe havens inside its territory, the United States will do “everything we can” to destroy them, said Tolo News.
Don’t expect unilateral cooperation, Pakistan to tell US defence secretary
The warning came when he was asked at the Reagan National Defence Forum in Simi, California, on November 2, how the Trump administration would persuade Islamabad to adhere to its new Afghan strategy.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis is arriving in Pakistan today (Monday) and is likely to pressure Islamabad to do more against militant groups. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Chief of the Army Chief (COAS) Qamar Javed Bajwa during the visit. He will also visit Egypt, Jordan and Kuwait.
The CIA chief said that Mattis would also “make clear the president’s intent” during his stay in Pakistan and “will deliver the message that we would love you to do that.”
Pompeo said safe havens inside Pakistan have been detrimental in allowing the US “to do what we needed to do in Afghanistan”.
He explained how the Trump’s administration would deal with the situation if Pakistan ignored the US request.
“In the absence of the Pakistanis achieving that (ridding their country of insurgent bases), we are going to do everything we can to make sure that that safe-havens no longer exist.”
US officials have long been frustrated by what they see as Pakistan’s reluctance to act against groups such as the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani network that they believe exploit safe havens on Pakistani soil to launch attacks on neighbouring Afghanistan.
Pakistan, however, denies sheltering the militants, and the issue has emerged as a major irritant to bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan.
