Top US Officer Meets Pakistan Army Chief
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Tuesday, March 4, 2008; 6:06 AM
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff held talks Tuesday with Pakistan's army chief, whose troops have been battling a growing insurgency along the border with Afghanistan.
Adm. Mike Mullen arrived in Pakistan on Monday for his second visit to the country in a month. The back-to-back trips reflect U.S. concern that the insurgency by al-Qaida and Taliban militants in the country's northwestern tribal region represents an increasing threat.
Mullen met with Pakistani army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani on Tuesday at the army headquarters in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital, Islamabad.
Mullen and Kayani "discussed matters of professional interest with particular reference to security situation in the region," a statement from Pakistan's military said. It provided no further details.
Last month, Mullen said the threat of Islamic extremism was growing in Pakistan and the country's leadership was aware of the challenge facing the nation.
Mullen is likely to use his current trip to discuss plans calling for 22 U.S. personnel to train elements of the Pakistani military in counter-insurgency and intelligence gathering techniques.
The training _ to be passed on to Pakistan's border Frontier Corps force _ would leave those troops better able to cooperate with U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan, a U.S. military official told The Associated Press on Sunday.
The U.S. personnel are scheduled to arrive sometime between June and October, the official said. Current plans call for the U.S. training to last two years and to be passed on to some 8,500 Frontier Corps troops.
Mullen was also expected to meet with Gen. Tariq Majid, the chairman of Pakistan's joint chiefs of staff committee, and President Pervez Musharraf.
Violence has surged in recent months in the tribal regions of Pakistan's northwest near the border with Afghanistan.
The increase has raised doubts about the ability of Pakistan's U.S.-allied government to stem the militancy.
On Tuesday, two explosions in a navy college in the eastern city of Lahore left two people dead and nine others wounded, police said.
On Sunday, a suicide bomber attacked a meeting of tribal elders discussing how to resist militants in the tribal town of Darra Adam Khel, killing 40 people.
