The United States on Tuesday urged the
Afghan and Pakistani governments to work together to improve border security,
after Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned he was willing to send troops into
Pakistan to halt cross-border militant attacks.
Karzai has been increasingly frustrated by attacks carried out on Afghan
soil by Taliban militants operating out of Pakistan, and on Sunday threatened
to launch an assault across the border.
"We'd like to see President Karzai and the Afghans and the Pakistanis work
out on their own ways to help improve security on the border region," said
Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman.
"I don't think President Karzai's comment was a threat. I think President
Karzai is dealing with a very difficult situation on his border," Fratto
said.
Karzai told reporters at his fortified presidential palace on Sunday that that
his country was a victim of terrorism and pledged to go after the Taliban on
Pakistani soil in "self-defence."
Pakistan reacted angrily as tension between the two countries continues to
escalate over the border region.
"Since the two countries were faced with a common enemy it was all the
more necessary that Afghanistan refrained from making irresponsible threatening
statements," Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said.
The Pakistani government has struggled to control the remote
border region, and has instead pursued ceasefires with the militants to the
annoyance of the US and Afghan governments, dpa reeported.