WASHINGTON: Central Intelligence Agency Chief Mike Pompeo has warned Pakistan that if it does not eliminate the alleged safe havens in its territory, the United States will do “everything we can” to destroy them.
Pompeo said safe havens inside Pakistan has worked to the detriment of US capacity “to do what we needed to do in Afghanistan”. He was speaking at the Reagan National Defence Forum in Simi, California, on Saturday, ahead of Defence Secretary James Mattis’ visit to to Pakistan on Monday .
Asked how the Trump administration would persuade Pakistan to adhere to its new Afghan strategy, Pompeo said, “You begin by seeking their assistance” and added that Mattis would “make clear the president’s intent.”
“In the absence of the Pakistanis achieving that (ridding their country of insurgent bases), we are going to do everything we can to make sure that safe-havens no longer exist,” Tolo News of Afghanistan quoted Pompeo as saying.
Pakistan denies sheltering terrorists and the issue has become a major irritant in bilateral ties between the US and Pakistan. In October, Mattis had said the US would try “one more time” to work with Pakistan before taking “whatever steps are necessary” to deal with its support for the militants. (AGENCIES)
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