Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to combat terrorism

Iran: Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to jointly fight militancy as they attended a counter-terrorism summit overshadowed by an Afghan hospital bombing that killed at least 20 people.

The statement by the three neighbouring presidents followed an announcement by US President Barack Obama that Washington will withdraw 33,000 of its 99,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer.

“All sides stressed their commitment to efforts aimed at eliminating extremism, militancy, terrorism, as well as rejecting foreign interference, which is in blatant opposition to the spirit of Islam, the peaceful cultural traditions of the region and its peoples’ interests,” the statement said.

They agreed to continue meeting at ministerial level ahead of the next summit in Islamabad before the end of 2011, added the statement carried by Iran’s official IRNA news agency.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Asif Ali Zardari also held three-way talks on Friday ahead of Saturday’s six-nation counter-terrorism gathering.

Speaking at the opening session of the two-day summit on Saturday, Karzai said that despite his government’s efforts, regional militancy was rising.

“Unfortunately, despite all the achievements in the fields of education, infrastructure and reconstruction, not only has Afghanistan not yet achieved peace and security, but terrorism is expanding and threatening more than ever Afghanistan and the region,” Karzai said.

A brazen suicide attack on Saturday on a hospital some 75 kilometres (45 miles) south of the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 20.

“Terrorists violate both human and divine values by inflicting death and destruction on fellow human beings. They have no religion,” Pakistan’s president said.

Zardari said attacks had killed 35,000 people in Pakistan, 5,000 of them law enforcement personnel, and caused material damage totalling $67 billion.

In his speech, Ahmadinejad again accused Iran’s arch-foe the United States of using the September 11, 2001 attacks as a “pretext” to send troops to the region.

“In light of the way it was approached and exploited, September 11 is very much like the Holocaust,” he charged.

“The American government used the attacks as a pretext to occupy two countries, and kill, injure and displace people in the region. Tehran, Sunday, AF