Pentagon
17 June 2008
The Pentagon says reports that Taliban forces have taken over severalvillages in southern Afghanistan are false, and that any Talibanoffensive in the area will be defeated. VOA's Al Pessin reports fromthe Pentagon.
Athis briefing Tuesday, the Pentagon press secretary also urged AfghanPresident Hamid Karzai not to send his troops across the border intoPakistan to attack militants based there. President Karzai made thethreat on Sunday,
"In terms of an Afghan military operationacross the border into Pakistan, that is not something that we feel isnecessary at this point," he said. "Obviously, Pakistan is a sovereigncountry, so we would discourage them to take such a mission. Andfrankly, there are significant internal threats to President Karzai'sadministration at this point that he and his forces are probably moreimmediately focused on. And so while his forces are increasinglycapable, we would encourage them to maintain their focus within theborders of Afghanistan."
President Karzai's spokesman hasindicated there is no plan for an imminent attack on Pakistan, and thatthe president was only making "a strong point" about the need for acrackdown on the militants.