Abolish militant safe havens, Afghan President tells Pakistan

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani met US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly in New York on Thursday.

The two leaders did not cite Pakistan when they appeared together in public after the meeting.

But President Ghani, while talking to a local radio channel, stressed that,"Reduction of safe havens in Pakistan is absolutely necessary.”



The comment followed earlier remarks in which Ghani said that Pakistan was a key part of the new Afghan plan of President Trump, and that neutralising militant hideouts in Pakistan is critical to establishing peace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan was left fuming after Trump had hurled similar accusations at Islamabad as he unveiled the new Afghan strategy back in August.

As part of the announced plan, the US government wants to withhold military aid to the South Asian nation until it takes action against militant safe havens, especially the Haqqani network based in the tribal region bordering Afghanistan.



“I hope that this time, Pakistan will get the message loud and clear that business as usual cannot continue. It's not in their interest. It's not in anyone's interest,” Ghani told the radio channel in an interview which was broadcast on Thursday.

“Pakistan has never had this type of dialogue with the US and I hope that wisdom and shared national interests will prevail," he added.

After the meeting with Ashraf Ghani, US President Donald Trump praised the efforts of the Afghan government in fighting the insurgency and driving militants out of the country.

Trump was of the opinion that joint Afghan-US action had been incredibly successful against the Taliban, “hitting them hard and hitting them effectively.”



According to senior officials within the US establishment, Trump's new plan for Afghanistan revolves around sending about 3,000 additional troops to the country, bringing the total Americans in the area to around 12,000.

But Ghani is still insisting that Afghan forces have been leading the fight against the Taliban insurgency.

"I am not seeking a blank cheque of unlimited American help," Ghani said.

The Taliban are rapidly making headway in Afghanistan, with almost half the country under their covert control already. But Ghani has said that Trump's plan will bring almost 80% of Afghanistan back under the sway of Kabul.