Authorities in Afghanistan are urging Pakistan to stop Taliban militants from launching attacks across the border into Afghan territory.
The Afghan Defense Ministry said Saturday it supports Pakistan's efforts to make peace with Taliban members in Pakistan, but only if that does not result in increased terrorist activity in Afghanistan.
A statement issued in Kabul recalled that a peace deal between Pakistan and the Taliban in 2006 allowed militants to regroup, and to organize attacks in both Pakistan and Afghanistan that killed hundreds of people.
Pakistan's new coalition government recently opened new peace talks with the Taliban. However, the commander of the Taliban in Pakistan, al-Qaida-linked militant Baitullah Mehsud, broke off discussions after the new administration in Islamabad refused to withdraw its troops from Pakistan's tribal regions, near the Afghan border.
Thousands of members of the Taliban and al-Qaida fled into Pakistan after U.S.-led troops ended Taliban rule in Afghanistan in late 2001.
U.S. military officials contend Taliban fighters are using Pakistan's tribal regions as a safe haven, allowing them to launch attacks into either Afghan or Pakistani territory.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
