From: EurasiaDigest (digest@eurasianet.org)
Date: Thu Feb 16 2006 - 12:09:39 EST
...AS AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN VOW JOINT COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS
After a two-hour private meeting with Karzai in Islamabad on 15 February, Musharraf said that counterterrorism is "a joint fight by Pakistan and Afghanistan as the evil is afflicting both" states, APP reported. According to Musharraf, his country has deployed 82,000 troops along its border with Afghanistan and 600 Pakistani soldiers have been killed in the fight against terrorism. The Pakistani leader noted with satisfaction the growing economic cooperation between his country and Afghanistan. However, both Karzai and Musharraf stressed the need to make cooperation in the field of security more effective in order to defeat terrorism, Pakistan TV 1 reported on 15 February. Despite the political gestures of closeness, relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan are now at their lowest point since the demise of the Taliban regime in late 2001. AT
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