KABUL - NATO's top commander in Afghanistan, General John Allen, said he believes the resurgence of the Taliban and the overthrow of the Afghan government by the militant group is not in the interests of Pakistan.
He acknowledged that the Pakistani military is fighting the group in tribal areas.
"My guess is that their interests aren't served by a Taliban government ultimately reasserting itself in Kabul," Allen said in an interview with the PBS news network on Friday.
"The Taliban have not made any visible effort or public effort to separate themselves from al Qaeda. And if that is in fact the case, then they remain a menace and they remain a menace to the region, not just a menace to the Afghan people and to the Afghan government," he said.

Allen spoke to PBS viewers about Pakistani military's role and the sacrifices made by their soldiers.

"I think it's important to understand that in the last two years, they've suffered over 3,000 deaths. That's not an inconsequential number of casualties, and a couple of tens of thousands wounded. They have an IED problem similar to the ones that we have. Pakistanis are making an investment in this as well," he said.

Recently, Allen told a US Congress hearing that the transfer of security to Afghan forces was the "linchpin" of the US-led strategy in Afghanistan, not simply a "way out" of the country, during a presentation which confirmed there would be no early withdrawal of troops.

Allen, a US Marine four-star general in command of the international forces in Afghanistan, said that he remained optimistic about eventual success of the mission. (Tolo News)