Pakistan Denies Helping Taleban

BBC News

May 19, 2006

Pakistan has rejected accusations by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that it is encouraging Taleban militancy. On Thursday Mr Karzai said Pakistan's intelligence services were encouraging the Taleban to carry out attacks.

He was speaking as officials said that heavy fighting in southern Afghanistan since Wednesday had left up to 100 people dead.

But a spokeswoman for Pakistan's foreign ministry said there was "no truth" in what Mr Karzai said.

The latest fighting is some of the heaviest since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 that led to the fall of the Taleban.

'Not responsible'

Mr Karzai said Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) trained young Afghans to burn down schools and attack engineers working in construction.

He also said more needed to be done against madrassas (Islamic schools) that were encouraging extremists.

"We know very well that in Pakistani madrassas boys are being told to go to Afghanistan for jihad (holy war). They're being told to go and burn schools and clinics."

But Tasnim Aslam of the Pakistani foreign ministry told the AFP news agency: "There is no truth in this.

"If there is unrest in Afghanistan, Pakistan is not responsible. Peace and stability in Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest."

The BBC's Alastair Leithead in the Afghan capital Kabul says the Taleban have been growing in strength across the border in Pakistan in areas beyond the control of the Pakistani government.

Our correspondent says Taleban fighters now move with impunity across the border into Afghanistan where they have cells throughout the south and east of the country.

'Get rid'

Reports from southern Afghanistan on Friday say Afghan security forces are continuing operations in the south against Taleban fighters, particularly in Helmand province.

Helmand's police commander, Abdullah, told the BBC that 200 of his men were hunting Taleban fighters. "Our search operation will continue until we get rid of these people," he said.

Officials say 50 militants and 13 police were killed in the Helmand fighting where UK troops are now in charge of security.

In Kandahar province, 25 militants and a Canadian soldier were reported killed.

A suicide bomber and a civilian were killed in Ghazni province, also in the south. And in the western city of Herat a US national was killed in a suicide attack.

Ghazni's police chief, Gen Abdul Rahman Sar Jang told the BBC his men had killed a further 11 Taleban fighters late on Thursday.

So far this year there have been at least 20 suicide attacks in Afghanistan compared with 17 for the whole of 2005 and five in 2004.