Joint Pakistan-US Operations

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From 'Daily Times (Pakistan)': US forces have begun working with Pakistan’s military to take on Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters along the Afghan border, a development US officials say reflects Islamabad’s new willingness to go after Taliban, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on Friday. The US and Pakistan are waging a co-ordinated military campaign known as Operation Lionheart, which involves US strikes on insurgent targets in the Kunar region of Afghanistan and a full-scale Pakistani campaign in the region of Bajaur, the report said.

According to the WSJ, US troops have recently conducted operations in Afghanistan in co-ordination with Pakistani forces across the border in Bajaur Agency. It quoted senior US official as saying they are sharing extensive real-time intelligence with their Pakistani counterparts. The two sides have also worked closely to seal the border and prevent insurgents from fleeing military operations in one country to havens in the other, the officials said.

In an interview in Kabul, Gen David McKiernan, the commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, said the US-Pakistani relationship now appeared to “be moving cautiously in the right direction”. The report quoted ISPR spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas as saying support from NATO forces in sealing the Afghan side of the border helped stop the flow of Taliban fighters in Bajaur, where Pakistan says its forces have killed more than 1,500 Taliban since August. “The co-operation greatly helped our forces in combating the militants in the area,” Abbas said.

The report quoted US Ambassador to Afghanistan William Wood as saying Pakistan’s stance against the Taliban ‘has improved’ since a new government led by President Asif Ali Zardari took power. “What we’re talking about here is a new agreement or a new common understanding of what constitutes unacceptable behaviour and a new willingness to attack that unacceptable behaviour in a co-ordinated way,” Wood was quoted as saying. US Chief of Army Staff Gen George Casey said US commanders in Afghanistan have begun meeting their Pakistani counterparts once a week. “There’s good contact going on,” he said.