Risingbd Online Bangla News Portal

Dhaka     Friday   29 March 2024

Trump blasts Pakistan for 'safe havens to terror'

4 || risingbd.com

Published: 05:02, 22 August 2017   Update: 15:18, 26 July 2020
Trump blasts Pakistan for 'safe havens to terror'

International Desk: President Donald Trump warned Pakistan on Monday that Washington will no longer tolerate Pakistan offering "safe havens" to extremists.

"We can no longer be silent about Pakistan's safe havens for terrorist organizations," Trump declared, outlining a new US security strategy in South Asia.

"Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with our effort in Afghanistan. It has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals and terrorists," Trump said in a prime-time televised address at a military base near Washington.

Going further, Trump suggested that military and other aid to Washington's nuclear-armed ally is at stake if it does not clamp down on extremism.

"We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting+ ," he said.

"That will have to change and that will change immediately," he said.

"It is time for Pakistan to dedicate to civilization and order and peace."

Trump opened the door to an increase in US troops in Afghanistan as part of a retooled strategy for the region, overcoming his own doubts about fighting on in America's longest military conflict.

Trump said his new approach was aimed at preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven for Islamist militants bent on attacking the United States.

Trump expanded the US military's authority for American armed forces to target militant and criminal networks. He said that US enemies in Afghanistan "need to know they have nowhere to hide - that no place is beyond the reach of American arms."

"Our troops will fight to win," he added, offering no timetable for how long US forces would need to remain in the country.

The speech came after a months-long review of US policy+ in which he frequently debated the future of US involvement in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents have been making territorial gains.

Source: Agencies




risingbd/Aug 22, 2017/Mukul

 

risingbd.com