Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

WH Urges Pakistan to Keep Haqqani on Heels

WH Urges Pakistan to Keep Haqqani on Heels

KABUL - The U.S. government has urged Pakistani leaders to protect gains made during counter-insturgent operations along the border region with Afghanistan over the past month and prevent the infamous Haqqani Network from entrenching itself there once again.

The report on communications between Washington and Islamabad acme from White House (WH) National Security Council member Jeffrey Eggers on Friday.

In June, the Pakistani military launched a series of operations throughout the Norther Waziristan tribal belt region that borders Afghanistan. The region is known to be a hotbed of insurgents and terrorist groups that have targeted Afghan and NATO forces across the border.

Afghan officials have been skeptical about the operations launched by Islamabad, with some suggesting they are just putting on a show to convince the international community that Pakistan does not harbor groups like the Haqqani Network, which is considered one of the largest and most sophisticated terrorist groups in the world.

"Pakistan cooperates with the Haqqani Network a lot, and Haqqani mostly targets Afghanistan; the Afghan National Security Forces and ISAF being their priorities," Kabul Police Chief Zaher Zaher said on Saturday.

In Afghanistan, the idea of insurgents and terrorists basing themselves out of Pakistan is accepted more or less as fact, which is one of the key reasons for frayed relations between the two neighbors over the years.

"The Haqqani Network is a very dangerous network, who have implemented many operations in Afghanistan over past years, but Pakistan has never done anything to destroy them," said military analyst Jawed Kohistani.

The Afghan government remains highly suspicious of Pakistani intelligence and military leaders, for the most part believing they are still in cahoots with Taliban and Haqqani leaders calling the shots for the war in Afghanistan from safe havens across the border.

Although Pakistan has maintained the operations it has carried out in Northern Waziristan effectively eliminated much of the terrorist threat in the region, experts in Kabul have argued otherwise. (Tolonews)