General

Pakistan warns U.S. it may lose key ally

Comments come after accusation that Pakistan supports Afghan insurgent attacks

Pakistan is warning the U.S. that it may lose an important ally if it continues to wield accusations of Pakistani support for insurgents in Afghanistan. Speaking to Geo TV in New York, Pakistani Foreign Minister Rabbini Khar addressed the U.S. directly. “You cannot afford to alienate Pakistan, you cannot afford to alienate the Pakistani people,” she said. “If you are choosing to do so and if they are choosing to do so it will be at [the United States’] own cost.” The statements come a day after Mike Mullen, the top officer for the U.S. military, accused the Pakistani intelligence agency of supporting Afghanistan’s insurgent Haqqani network in several attacks in recent months, including last week’s attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul. He called the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s intelligence service.

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