Timing of US military drawdown queried

KABUL, a senior diplomat said in an interview published on Friday.

Why the US was pulling out at a time when the situation was not fully settled in Afghanistan, asked Jalil Abbas Jilani, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.

He told The Express Tribune: “The major responsibility to ensure peace and stability on [the Pak-Afghan] border will rest with Pakistan.” His country had to increase the number of forces on the border, Jilani added

The ambassador remarked: “For us it’s a surge for our armed forces whose role in the fight against militants has already been praised by the Obama administration.”

Though the decision was jointly taken by Washington and Kabul, the move to withdraw forces was clearly the sovereign right of the US, Jilani explained.

He hoped once the new government was installed in Kabul, certain positive developments would emerge in Afghanistan.

The ambassador dispelled the impression that Haqqani Network militants were not being targeted in the military operation in North Waziristan and South Waziristan.

PAN Monitor/mud

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