NATO Summit: Afghan CEO highlights terrorists' sanctuaries in Pak

Kabul, July 10 (ANI): The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Afghanistan, Abdullah Abdullah, in a veiled reference to Islamabad at the NATO Warsaw Summit in Poland highlighted about the safe havens used by the Taliban group and Haqqani terrorist network in Pakistan. "Looking back at recent history, some of us failed to grasp, the strategy that enabled the reemergence of militant cells that enjoyed sanctuaries and staging grounds in our neighborhood. But that strategy, in the face of Afghan resolve and international steadfastness, has failed and I am certain, it will never succeed," Khaama Press quoted him as saying. Abdullah hailed the NATO's contribution and commitment to Kabul in maintaining security in the country. "The Afghan National Security and Defense Forces grew in numbers, and more importantly, in terms of capacities, heralding the end of the international combat engagement in 2014, and the start of a new era of cooperation and assistance under the Resolute Support mission," he said. He asserted he is confident enough to say that the Afghan nation benefited greatly from the NATO engagement, not only in the security sector, but also with the concurrent civilian deployments to bridge the gap between reconstruction and security in many parts of Afghanistan. Highlighting that his country is on the frontlines against various types of threats, including Taliban, Da'ish and Al-Qa'ida, the Afghan CEO said international partnership matters in defending the threats. His remarks come as the Afghan officials have long been criticizing Pakistan for allowing the militant groups to use its soil to plan and coordinate attacks in Afghanistan.(ANI)