Pakistan army chief defends anti-militant struggle

Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani statement was issued after the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff accused Pakistan’s military-run spy agency of links to a powerful militant faction fighting in Afghanistan. — Reuters Photo

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s army chief is rejecting claims that the military is doing too little to stop militants.
Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani statement was issued after the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff accused Pakistan’s military-run spy agency of links to a powerful militant faction fighting in Afghanistan.

While visiting here on Wednesday, Adm. Mike Mullen said Pakistan’s ties to the Haqqani network are at the heart of its tensions with the US Kayani’s statement on Thursday didn’t directly mention Mullen’s complaint, but it acknowledged the two sides have a trust deficit.

The Haqqanis have bases in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region. Pakistan says it has severed ties to the Haqqanis that were forged during the 1980s Soviet occupation of Afghanistan.