Thaindian News

New York: US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has said that Islamabad has not yet acted against the Haqqani group- a Taliban ally- as the nation’s fight against terrorism has been constrained by the need to deploy troops in flood relief efforts.

Holbrooke said that so far, there was no evidence that Islamabad was acting on Washington’s demands that it moves against the Haqqani group, which the US officials suspect of having ties to the Pakistani intelligence, and suggested this was because of the country’s devastating floods, the Daily Times reported.

“They have tens of thousands of troops on flood duty. The army has really been the major factor in the rescue effort, and you can’t do both things at once,” said Holbrooke, speaking in New York as part of a summit.

“The country is full of rumours. You’re all aware of them. But as far as we’re concerned, our focus is solely on how we can help the people,” he added.

Holbrooke conceded that more government troops were being diverted towards flood relief work, from the fight against the local Taliban and other militant groups, like the Haqqani network, which is believed to be closely linked to Al Qaeda.

The US, which had staged repeated aerial drone strikes against suspected militant targets in the Pakistan- Afghanistan border region, would “go after them with every means available,” he declared, calling the US military campaign against militants in the region “ferocious.” (ANI)