Rumsfeld: Afghan border security a worry
Concerns persist about security at Afghanistan’s borders and terrorists’ infiltration of the country, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.
“It is something that requires continuing attention,” Rumsfeld said at a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the capital. Kabul.
“It’s happening all across the globe. It proves the point that the global war on terror is not a problem in one country or for one country.”
Karzai, speaking specifically about security on his country’s border with Pakistan, said Pakistan’s president, General Pervez Musharraf, has promised “that everything will be done to stop terrorist activities to Afghanistan”.
Karzai said he hoped “the stricter approach by Pakistan against the Taliban incursions in Afghanistan, against terrorism, would produce the desired results”.
Rumsfeld, on a tour of Iraq and Afghanistan, went to Kabul to offer public backing for Karzai and to visit American troops and Nato-led peacekeepers.
Earlier today, Rumsfeld visited an 80-member team of US troops stationed at Gardez, in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan. The troops are fighting anti-American forces and helping with reconstruction projects in the area.
Rumsfeld joined the forces for lunch in the century-old fort they use as a headquarters.
Assad Wafa, the regional governor, thanked the secretary for his visit to Paktia province.
“I hope with your help and support there will be prosperity and security all across the country,” Wafa said.
Karzai’s government is battling a resurgent Taliban and working to diminish the influence of regional warlords. Fighting between Afghan and US forces and Taliban guerrillas in the past month has left four American troops dead.
More than 100 Taliban fighters have been killed since August 30, said Colonel Rod Davis, a US military spokesman. The latest raid came last night and involved American aircraft, he said.
The United States wants to shore up Karzai’s government, which was installed after the 2001 American invasion overturned and ousted the ruling Taliban. It plans to significantly increase spending in Afghanistan, an administration official said today.
About 9,000 American troops remain stationed in Afghanistan, hunting down Taliban and al Qaida fighters and helping to rebuild the country.
Another 5,000 troops under Nato command serve as peacekeepers in Kabul.
