Pakistan concerned about US plan in Afghanistan: US general

I / Washington April 30, 2009, 10:48 IST

Pakistan has voiced concern that US reinforcements in Afghanistan's south could push Taliban insurgents and refugees over its porous border, a US general has said.  

The commandant of the US Marine Corps, General James Conway, said Pakistan's military chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, conveyed his worry about a planned push by the US military in southern Afghanistan in a recent meeting.  

"He expressed concern that our forces going into the south could cause a refugee problem that Pakistan is ill-equipped to handle right now, based on their fiscal scenario, and the possibility that we could be forcing Taliban out of the south and onto supply lines that the Pakistani forces are currently trying to protect for us," Conway told reporters.  

US President Barack Obama has ordered 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan as part of a new strategy to fight a growing insurgency, with most combat forces to focus on the volatile south.  

Conway said it was unclear if the Taliban would flee pressure from US forces and move across Afghan's southern border.         

"I accept General Kayani's concerns as face value from his perspective. I would offer to you that not everybody believes that's where the Taliban will flush to," he said.