ISI exporting violence to Afghanistan: US
WASHINGTN
The US military's top officer bluntly accused Pakistan on Thursday of "exporting" violent extremism to Afghanistan by backing militants that attack American and NATO troops.
Admiral Mike Mullen said the country's main intelligence agency ISI was actively supporting Haqqani network militants blamed for an assault on the US embassy in Kabul last week.
"The Haqqani Network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency," Mullen told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
With ISI backing, Haqqani militants this month carried out a truck bombing on a NATO base in Afghanistan that wounded 77 Americans; assaulted the US embassy and NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital; and in June staged an attack on the Inter Continental Hotel in Kabul.
“In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan -- and most especially the Pakistani Army and ISI -- jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership, but also Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence," he said.
“By exporting violence, they have eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being,” he added.
Mullen, who is due to step down at the end of the month as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff after four years, defended his efforts to build a dialogue with the Pakistani military.
He said more than a dozen meetings with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani were crucial despite Islamabad's refusal to meet Washington's demands.
"The Haqqani Network, for one, acts as a veritable arm of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency," Mullen told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.
With ISI backing, Haqqani militants this month carried out a truck bombing on a NATO base in Afghanistan that wounded 77 Americans; assaulted the US embassy and NATO headquarters in the Afghan capital; and in June staged an attack on the Inter Continental Hotel in Kabul.
“In choosing to use violent extremism as an instrument of policy, the government of Pakistan -- and most especially the Pakistani Army and ISI -- jeopardizes not only the prospect of our strategic partnership, but also Pakistan's opportunity to be a respected nation with legitimate regional influence," he said.
“By exporting violence, they have eroded their internal security and their position in the region. They have undermined their international credibility and threatened their economic well-being,” he added.
Mullen, who is due to step down at the end of the month as chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff after four years, defended his efforts to build a dialogue with the Pakistani military.
He said more than a dozen meetings with army chief General Ashfaq Kayani were crucial despite Islamabad's refusal to meet Washington's demands.
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