Pakistan calls for foreign support, not troops

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan’s president is calling for foreign allies to provide more support - not more troops - to help win the battle against extremist militias along its volatile border with Afghanistan.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said Tuesday that his country’s forces, together with the Afghan military, could do the fighting themselves if given the right international support.

The comments come ahead of an expected influx of 20,000 American troops into Afghanistan to combat a Taliban insurgency that has sent violence skyrocketing in the last two years.

On his first official visit to Afghanistan since taking office in September, Zardari also discussed trade partnerships with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

“We and my brother Karzai, we are going to fight them. And to the world we say, ‘Help us. We can fight. We can look out for ourselves. We want to win. We have the strength. All we need is the support. Given the proper support, we can do the job better and cheaper and easier than you can do.’ “

Pakistan and Afghanistan are dependent on each other for any long-lasting peace.

Al-Qaida and Taliban fighters operate on both sides of the hard-to-police Afghan-Pakistan border, sometimes seeking sanctuary in Pakistan’s tribal areas to launch attacks into Afghanistan, or within Pakistan.

Afghanistan’s war effort also depends heavily on supplies trucked in across mountain passes from Pakistan.

Though neither the Pakistan nor Afghan governments have strong control over the border area, the two presidents said they have made progress in working together against the extremists.

KABUL, Wednesday, AP