ISLAMABAD: NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer yesterday praised Pakistani forces for laying down their lives in fighting extremists and for keeping the supply lines open for troops in Afghanistan.
Scheffer was in Pakistan for talks with the country’s leaders on the regional situation and security along the Afghan border, officials said. “Let me recognize when I mention the border that we recognize the heavy price paid by the Pakistani Army and Pakistani Frontier Corps in fighting extremism and militancy in the FATA and parts of North-West Frontier Province,” Scheffer told a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmoud Qureshi.
“And we think that Pakistani security forces for their efforts in combating cross border insurgency and in protecting the ISAF supply lines ... have paid a heavy price and are paying heavy price for that,” he said.
The secretary-general said NATO was looking for alternative supply routes into Afghanistan after the trucks carrying its hardware were attacked by Taleban militants in Khyber tribal district.
“We are also of course interested in some possible alternatives as far as transit is concerned,” he said declining to comment on a statement in this regard by top US Gen. David Petraeus on Tuesday in Islamabad.
The NATO chief also held talks with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, officials said. The talks with Zardari were focused on “border security, NATO supplies, (and the) general regional situation,” a presidential aide told reporters.
The government has always stressed that “a secure and stable Afghanistan is vital to Pakistan,” the aide said. US and NATO officials say Pakistan’s rugged northwest tribal belt has become a safe haven for militants linked to the Taleban and Al-Qaeda who fled from neighboring Afghanistan after the 2001 US-led invasion.
Pakistani commanders say eliminating militant rear-bases in lawless ethnic Pashtun lands on the Pakistani side of the border is crucial. “NATO efforts on the Afghan side of the border can and will be stepped up this year and more action is also necessary against those extremists inside this country who are planning and conducting terrorists attacks inside Afghanistan,” Scheffer said.
Pakistan’s military issued a blunt call on Tuesday for outside powers to stop demanding it do, pointing out many more Pakistani soldiers had died in the war against militancy compared with soldiers from other countries. Pakistan is battling militants in the northwest as it keeps a wary eye on its eastern border with India after militant attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai led to a spike in tension between the neighbors.
— With input from agencies
