US missile strikes in Pakistan's Tribal Areas in recent months have killed three of the top 20 Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the area, US Central Command chief Gen David Petraeus told The Associated Press in an interview on Thursday.He did not identify the leaders he said had died in the US strikes.
Petraeus described the insurgents on both sides as a 'mutual enemy', who in the case of Pakistan represent 'an existential threat, and they recognise it as such'.
Tribal support: He said Afghanistan's government was looking at new initiatives to engage Afghan tribes in the fight against insurgents. "[Afghanistan] is a country in which support of the tribes, of the local communities, for the overall effort is essential," he said.
"Certainly there is a long tradition of working with the tribes in (Pakistan's) Tribal Areas and so it is very natural that they should engage those tribes and endeavour to get their assistance in confronting the extremists who have turned what used to be fairly peaceful areas into strongholds for individuals who . . . believe that they have the right to blow up other people who do not see the world the way they do," Petraeus said.