Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed the operation by Pakistani forces against militants in a tribal district, but urged Islamabad to expand the offensive against militants. “Afghanistan’s government welcomes in principle the military operation by Pakistan,” Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told reporters in Kabul. “But we know this is not enough,” he said, calling for an “expanded, serious and broad action against terrorist hideouts inside Pakistani soil”.The spokesman reiterated accusations that militants based in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas were crossing the border to launch attacks on Afghan and international forces.
Pakistan said it had launched the operation in Khyber on Saturday to tackle militants who were threatening the city of Peshawar and attacking supply convoys to NATO and US troops in Afghanistan.