Pakistan slams Pentagon report on terror havens

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday reacted sharply to a blunt Pentagon assessment that it harbours terrorist sanctuaries, saying the remarks in the report contained “unsubstantiated allegations” and “unwarranted comments”.

Reacting to the report , Pakistan Foreign Office said, “the Government of Pakistan takes serious exception to comments contained in the US Department of Defence report sent to the Congress under the title ‘Progress Towards Security and Stability in Afghanistan’.” “While noting Pakistan’s cooperation with the US in areas of mutual interests, the recently released report also carries unsubstantiated allegations of the existence of terrorist ‘sanctuaries’ or that proxy forces are operating from here against Afghanistan and India,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

It said Pakistan’s protest over these “unwarranted comments” was conveyed by Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz to US Ambassador Richard Olson at the Foreign Ministry. “Such allegations are of particular concern at this point when Pakistan government has launched comprehensive operations against militants in North Waziristan. The military operation ‘Zarb-e-Azb’ has been broadly welcomed internationally, including in the US,” it said.

The Foreign Office said that the operation has “successfully eliminated terrorist hideouts” and is directed against all militants, without any distinction.

“We therefore hope that the issues will be seen in their correct perspective,” it said.