Peace deal must not put soldiers, mission at risk: Nato

Nato on Sunday asked Pakistan to avoid agreements that would ‘put our troops and our mission under threat’. Adding to concern voiced by Afghan officials about Islamabad’s talks with Taliban on its own side of the frontier, Nato spokesman Mark Laity said that Pakistan must take the alliance into account. Baitullah Mehsud while pursuing peace talks with Islamabad said at the weekend that he would continue ‘jihad’ in Afghanistan. “They have a sovereign right to make agreements,” Laity said, and added, “We have a right to answer if those agreements put our troops and our mission under threat.”It is no real solution if trouble on one side of the Durand Line is merely transferred to the other side.” Forty-four Nato troops in Afghanistan have been killed in action this year, Laity said.”We have noticed an increase in activity in the eastern part of the country especially which we believed can only be attributed to a reduction of Pakistan military activities,” he said. “We are making clear to Pakistan that in the legitimate desire to reach a peaceful settlement in their areas, they got to take us into account,” he added. Afghan defence ministry spokesman Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi told the same media briefing that Pakistan territory “should not be used to kill innocent people in Afghanistan.” “Previous peace accords between Pakistan’s government and insurgents have shown that it was a golden time for insurgents - they got equipped, they got ready and they launched operations against both governments,” he said. Azimi appeared to be referring to a now-defunct 2006 peace agreement in North Waziristan area, which led to an increase in suicide and other attacks just across the border in Afghanistan.