Pak-Afghan border regions still safe haven for terrorist groups: US

Kabul: The U.S. Department of State has said the bordering regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan are still safe havens for many terrorist groups.

State Department spokesman John Kirby made the remarks during his daily press briefing on Monday.

“We understand that the border region is still a safe haven for many terrorist groups. That’s point one. We understand that the governments in Afghanistan and Pakistan know this themselves and have made efforts in the past to work together to try to address that threat. That’s point two,” he said.

Kirby said that Washington continues to urge both Kabul and Islamabad to work together eliminate the safe haven enjoyed by the insurgent groups.

“We understand that that effort also has not always gone smoothly, and we continue to urge those two governments to work together along that spine to eliminate the safe haven that so many groups there still enjoy, because those groups are targeting both Afghan and Pakistani civilians – innocent people that continue to die and be maimed by these groups,” Kirby added.

The Afghan officials has time and again said that both Taliban group and Haqqani terrorist network leaderships are still based in Pakistan and they enjoy immunity from the ongoing operations in the tribal regions of the country.(ANI)