Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday that the Inter-Services Intelligence
...the Pak military
intelligenceagency that controls the military -- heads of ISI typically get promoted into the Chief of Army Staff position. It serves as a general command center for favored turban groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, tries to influence the politix of neighboring countries, and carries out a (usually) low-level war against India in Kashmir...
(ISI) directorate had maintained relations with "terrorist groups."
"It is clear to me that the ISI has connections with terrorist groups," media outlets quoted Dunford as saying.
US officials have long been frustrated with what they say is Pakistain's unwillingness to act against bully boy groups including the Afghan Taliban
...the Pashtun equivalent of men...
and the Haqqani network
.The Haqqani network, founded 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...
, is a bully boy group that operates on both the Pak and Afghan side of the border.
Successive US administrations have criticized Pakistain for links with the Taliban and for harboring slain al-Qaeda leader the late Osama bin Laden
... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest...
On August 21, US President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
, in a major speech outlining US policy on Afghanistan, denounced the Pak government for offering safe haven to "agents of chaos."
Pak officials bristle at what they say is lack of respect by Washington for the country's sacrifices in the war on militancy.