Pakistan-NATO

US General John Allen, commander of the ISAF international forces in Afghanistan, has said that he is "cautiously optimistic" that Pakistan will soon dispatch liaison officers to the ISAF headquarters in Kabul.

Allen also said he had had his first telephone conversation since the November 26 airstrikes with Pakistan's army chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Monday.

They both expressed a commitment to work through the incident and try to restore coordination between their forces along the Afghan border, Allen added.

"I do have a sense of progress," Allen told reporters at a briefing in Kabul.

"The conversation was clearly about attempting to resolve the issue around the border incident to restore border coordination so that we can move on," he said.

Allen added, however, that they had not discussed when Pakistan would reopen its border crossings to NATO convoys transporting supplies for troops in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistan crucial to Afghan success

The supply routes through Pakistan carry about 30 percent of the fuel, food and other goods needed by troops stationed in Afghanistan. The blockade by Pakistan has forced the US to use alternative northern routes that are more costly and take longer.

Allen spoke with the media shortly after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Afghanistan unannounced for talks with commanders about plans to withdraw tens of thousands of forces from the country in the coming months.

Panetta, for his part, told journalists that Allen had reassured him that military operations were continuing along the Afghan-Pakistan border, despite the problems with Islamabad.

"I think it's been said a number of times: Ultimately we cannot win the war in Afghanistan without being able to win in our relationship with Pakistan as well," he said.

He added that he thought Afghanistan was on a much better track to govern and secure itself when foreign troops withdraw in 2014.

Author: Gregg Benzow (AP, dapd)
Editor: Anne Thomas