The Kabul government on Saturday demanded that Washington increase pressure on Pakistan to act against insurgents using its soil to attack Afghanistan, saying Afghans were running out of patience.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai held talks with U.S. regional envoy, Marc Grossman, in Kabul just days after President Barack Obama warned Pakistan there were “some connections” between its intelligence services and extremists.
“The Afghan president asked Grossman to put more pressure on Pakistan so that future meetings with them should bring a positive result,” one official at the presidential palace told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, long mired in distrust, have recently deteriorated with Kabul alleging that the murder of its peace envoy Burhanuddin Rabbani was hatched in Pakistan and carried out by a Pakistani.
Kabul accused Islamabad of hindering the investigation and also claimed to have foiled an alleged plot in Pakistan to assassinate Karzai.
The palace quoted Grossman as promising that the United States will “continue putting pressure on Pakistan to take practical steps forward.” (AFP)
