Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that Pakistan deserves “enormous credit” for fighting extremists, even as he asked the Pakistani government to do more to fight militants on its soil.
“Pakistani forces deserve enormous credit for the ongoing military operations that they have already undertaken in North Waziristan and elsewhere, and these operations have already produced significant results,” he said. “But make no mistake: The task is a difficult one, and it is not done.”
Though he praised Pakistan’s efforts in North Waziristan — where troops have been fighting members of the Pakistani Taliban since June — Kerry was also in Islamabad to ask the Pakistani government to commit to taking on all militant groups, not just the Pakistani Taliban.
“[W]e’ve been very clear with the highest levels of the government of Pakistan that Pakistan has to target all militant groups, the Haqqani Network and others, that target U.S. coalition and Afghan forces and target people in Pakistan and elsewhere,” he said.
Kerry met Monday and Tuesday with the prime minister of Pakistan, as well as his national security adviser. The secretary of State’s visit to the country was unannounced.
Pakistan has been the victim of several brutal terrorist attacks in recent months. In December, terrorists killed 150 people, most of them children, at a school in Peshawar. Last week, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside of a mosque in Rawalpindi, killing eight people.