Mullen remains concerned about militant threat

[unhappycamper]

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, right, talks to Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a meeting Dec. 14 at the Afghan Presidential Palace.


Mullen remains concerned about militant threat
By Amir Shah and Anne Gearan - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Dec 14, 2009 12:07:53 EST

KABUL — America’s top military officer expressed concern Monday about the “growing level of collusion” between Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and al-Qaida and other militant groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan.

Adm. Mike Mullen, in Kabul to discuss the upcoming U.S. troop buildup and training of Afghanistan’s security force, told reporters he would discuss the issue with Pakistani authorities during talks in Islamabad later this week.

Painting a grim picture, Mullen said Afghan insurgents were dominant in a third of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces and “the insurgency has grown more violent, more pervasive and more sophisticated.”

“I remain deeply concerned by the growing level of collusion between the Afghan Taliban and al-Qaida and other extremist groups taking refuge across the border in Pakistan,” Mullen said. “Getting at this network, which is more entrenched, will be a more difficult task than it was just one year ago.”

Mullen’s reference to militants based in Pakistan appeared aimed at U.S. efforts to press the Pakistani government to step up its crackdown on extremists who have long used their country as a refuge. The U.S. believes most of al-Qaida’s top leadership has moved from Afghanistan to the lawless border area just inside Pakistan.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/12/ap_afghanistan_mullen_visit_121409/