During a congressional hearing with the Senate Armed Service Committee, Gen. Austin said "We need Pakistain to take decisive actions against the Haqqani Network (HQN). The Paks are uniquely positioned to counter the HQN, which remains the greatest threat to our forces and to stability in Afghanistan long-term."
Gen. Austin further added that the US is encouraged by some signs from Kabul
...the capital of Afghanistan. Home to continuous fighting from 1992 to 1996 between the forces of would-be strongman and Pak ISI/Jamaat-e-Islami sock puppet Gulbuddin Hekmayar and the Northern Alliance, a period which won Hek the title
Most Evil Man in the Worldand didn't do much for the reputations of the Northern Alliance guys either....
and Islamabad that point towards a renewed effort at improving Afghanistan-Pakistain relations, and Pak support for the reconciliation process in Afghanistan.
"The Pakistain military continues to play a visible role in efforts to reduce safe havens in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas along the Afghanistan-Pakistain border, while at the same time actively countering VEOs, including AQ, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain, and the newly-emerged Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling
Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not
reallyMoslems....
-Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
," he said.
The Haqqani terrorist network is accused of staging numerous cross-border attacks from their base in North
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Wazoo, including the 19-hour siege at the US Embassy in Kabul in September 2011.Haqqani network was formed in the late 1970s by Jalaluddin Haqqani
...founder and still titular head of the Haqqani Network. Jalaluddin is old and tough and very crafty, one of the few Pashtun warlords who was worth spit...
. The group is allied with al-Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban and cooperates with other terrorist organizations in the region.
The network is considered the most lethal murderous Moslem group targeting the NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
-led coalition security forces and Afghan personnel in Afghanistan.