All terrorist groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including Al Qaeda, Taliban and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, have joined hands to destabilise the region, a powerful American lawmaker said on Thursday.
"Indeed, nearly all of the jihadi groups operating in Pakistan and Afghanistan, Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, the Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, LeT, and others have joined together in an extended terrorist network that shares the same goals, including destabilising Afghanistan and destroying the Pakistani state," said Congressman Howard Berman, chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
He said there appears to be a growing recognition in Pakistan that it is impossible to differentiate between different terrorist groups, "and that the same people killing American, international and Afghan troops are now arming suicide bombers in the streets and markets of Pakistan and killing Pakistani civilians".
Berman said this in his opening remarks at a hearing on Afghanistan convened by House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
"We sympathise with the plight of the Pakistani people, who have suffered great losses from the growing number of terrorist attacks in that country," he said.
Berman said there appears to be a consensus on the fact that the military strategy in Afghanistan can only succeed if it is accompanied by a robust 'civilian surge' designed to improve governance, strengthen the rule of law, and promote economic development in both Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"This fact often gets lost in the debate about troop levels and the time frame for withdrawal," he said.
