Pakistan/Afghanistan/US

Obama hails Pakistan-Afghanistan front in fight against Taliban

Article published on the 2009-05-07 Latest update 2009-05-07 13:40 TU

US President Barack Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai (L) and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari (R), 6 May 2009.
(Photo: Reuters)

US President Barack Obama welcomed Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to Washington to cement his new plan to fight the growing Taliban insurgency in their two countries.

"I'm pleased that these two men, elected leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, fully appreciate the seriousness of the threat that we face, and have reaffirmed their commitment to confronting it," Obama said Wednesday evening.

Zardari was seeking US military aid and political support, while Karzai hopes to purge Taliban havens in Pakistan, which are destabilising his country.

The talks came amid fresh deadly clashes in Pakistan's Swat valley in which the military said it had killed more than 80 militants in an upsurge of fighting.

The talks also coincided with fresh reports that US air strikes had killed 100 people, most of them civilians, in one of the deadliest battles in nearly eight years.

Four people were hurt in clashes with police as hundreds of furious demonstrators gathered in the western Afghan town of Farah in reaction to the killings. They chanted "death to Americans" and demanded a full withdrawal of international forces.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed her regret for the action directly to Karzai. "We deeply regret it. We don't know all of the circumstances or causes. And there will be a joint investigation," she said.

But Clinton said that she had high hopes for the talks, which would continue through the day Thursday, and said that there were positive signs early on.

"Both presidents spoke very movingly about the threat and dangers of terrorism," Clinton said, adding she was "extremely impressed" by the candor of the two leaders and their delegations.