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Tillerson talks tough on Pak's 'safe haven to terrorists'

WION Web Team
AfghanistanUpdated: Oct 24, 2017, 08:43 AM IST
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File photo of US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson Photograph:(AFP)

Ahead of his visit to Pakistan today, US secretary of state Rex Tillerson bluntly stated that "Pakistan needs to take a clear-eyed view of the situation in terms of the number of terrorist organisations that find safe haven inside the country".

Tillerson paid a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Monday to discuss President Trump's strategy in the region with President Ashraf Ghani.

President Trump had repeatedly mentioned "safe havens in Pakistan" for terrorists while unveiling his Afghanistan strategy two months ago also underlying India's importance in the region.

Tillerson said: "This is very much a regional effort as you saw. It was rolled out in the strategy itself, demanding that others deny safe haven to terrorists anywhere in the region. We are working closely with Pakistan as well," Pakistan's Dawn newspaper quoted the US secretary of state.

Tillerson arrived in Afghanistan even as the Taliban opened a bloody campaign in past week leading to the death of over 200 people in multiple bomb attacks throughout the country. On Monday, several rockets were fired on Kabul ahead of Tillerson's visit but there were no casualties.

Expanding on Pakistan, Dawn quoted the Tillerson saying, "Pakistan needs to, I think, take a clear-eyed view of the situation that they are confronted with in terms of the number of terrorist organisations that find safe haven inside of Pakistan. So we want to work closely Pakistan to create a more stable and secure Pakistan as well.”

Tillerson had met his counterpart Pakistan foreign minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif earlier in the month in Washington to put pressure on Pakistan to control militant groups in its area. 

During the meeting, the Pakistan foreign minister had reassured the US secretary of state that his country was pursuing "zero-tolerance and indiscriminate approach" in its campaign against "all terrorist and militant groups".