Pompeo seeks crackdown on terrorist safe havens in Pakistan

Washington, May 23

Pakistan should crackdown on terrorist safe havens and instigators of terrorist activities in its own country, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

The US and others have long complained that Pakistan provides safe haven to the Afghan Taliban and their allies, the Haqqani network, allowing them to carry out cross-border attacks in Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies these allegations but President Donald Trump has escalated the criticism against Islamabad since he took office.

"As part of the new South Asia strategy, we have been clear with Pakistan that ensuring reconciliation, peace, and security in Afghanistan in large part depends on Pakistan's willingness to crack down on terrorist safe havens and instigators of terrorist activity in its own country," Pompeo said in his testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Pompeo said that across the world, the US has encouraged nations to assume greater responsibilities for maintaining their own and shared security and stability.

“In the face of a resurgent Russia, and in response to our urging, many NATO members are newly meeting their commitments to funding deterrence and defense initiatives," he said.

President Trump's call to leaders of Middle East countries in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, rallied leaders of those nations to more aggressively combat terrorism inside their own borders and to counter violent extremism abroad, Pompeo said. PTI