The US State Department has urged Pakistan to take military action against Taliban leaders who allegedly used its territory for cross-border attacks, besides continuing to encourage them to resume peace talks with Kabul.
Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that the Afghan demanded to abandon its peace efforts and take immediate military action against the Taliban leaders., reports Dawn.
Aziz offered to push for resuming the reconciliation talks as soon as possible.
When asked for comments on the Pakistani position, a State Department official reminded Islamabad that in December last year Afghanistan and Pakistan signed a joint statement, agreeing, 'not to allow use of their respective soil against each other'.
The official noted that Afghanistan and Pakistan had also agreed to 'sternly handle any elements crossing over and getting involved in violence on either side, through active intelligence sharing and intelligence-based operations'.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani urged Pakistan to evict Taliban insurgents through military action or arrest and hand them over to Kabul for trial and punishment for killing innocent Afghans.
President Ghani also said that he would no longer seek Pakistan's help in arranging reconciliation talks with the Taliban.
Aziz said that the Afghan outrage at Pakistan was 'an expression of frustration' at the delay in reconciliation talks.
Aziz added that Taliban had gone ahead with their Spring Offensive, pushing aside Islamabad's efforts for re-starting the talks.
The United States has underlined the need for an effective engagement with Pakistan as critical for promoting peace and stability in the region.
