Pakistan must pressure Afghan Taliban: Petraeus

MANAMA: Pakistan needs to put pressure on the leadership of the Afghan Taliban operating inside its borders for long-term progress to be made in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus said on Sunday.

"(To make) the really significant progress in Afghanistan that will be necessary over time... it would be very helpful if additional pressure could be put (by Pakistan) on the leadership of the elements that are causing problems in Afghanistan," the head of the US Central Command told reporters on the sidelines of the sixth Manama Dialogue security conference.

He said, however, that Pakistani forces have carried out some "quite impressive" operations against Pakistani Taliban forces, fueled by the realisation that extremist groups operating in the country pose a threat.

"There was a recognition by all the Pakistani leaders (earlier this year)... that the main threat to the very writ of Pakistani governance was the internal extremist threat," he said.

"That recognition is of considerable importance because it was that that has supported the Pakistani military and Frontier Corps in conducting some quite impressive operations" against extremist groups, primarily the Pakistani Taliban, he added.

President Barack Obama's administration has pressed Pakistan to move against Taliban and Al-Qaeda sanctuaries inside its borders, saying success in Afghanistan depended on disrupting the cross-border safe havens.