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Pakistan-Based Terrorists Still A Threat To The U.S: Obama

 Outgoing U.S President Barack Obama has said that terrorist groups in Pakistan’s tribal regions pose an ongoing security threat to the United States, adding that one of the reasons for the U.S’s military presence in Afghanistan has been to target these militants.
 
Obama’s warning comes as the scale of violence has sharply increased in Afghanistan in recent months. However, the U.S military conducted only three air strikes on terror hideouts in Pakistan in 2016.
 
But U.S attacks on insurgents in Afghanistan increased by 40 percent last year.
 
In addition, Obama has said that his hardest decision during his two terms in office was regarding a massive troop surge in Afghanistan.
 
"Toughest decision was early in my presidency when I ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan,” he said.
 
After a protracted debate inside the administration that pitted U.S military commanders against White House advisers, Obama announced the 30,000-troop surge in December 2009.
 
Even after decimating Al-Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas and killing the jihadist group's leader Osama bin Laden, groups in the region still "have both the interest and the capacity if we don't maintain vigilance to strike against the United States," he said.
 
A fresh report published by the U.S military shows that the U.S forces in 2016 carried out 1,337 military attacks inside Afghanistan, 400 attacks in Libya, 35 air strikes in Yemen, 14 attacks in Somalia and only three attacks on insurgents in Pakistan.
 
“The United States took over a thousand strikes last year 2016 and that is an increase from what took place in 2015 and that is really the result of two authorities that the US forces were provided.  Last January the US forces were given the authority to target ISK (Daesh),”  said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, spokesperson for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, some Afghan parliamentarians and interior ministry officials have also asked for military attacks to be increased on terrorists safe havens and hideouts in Pakistan.
 
“The fact is that the majority of sponsors operate in Pakistan and they give directions to the terrorists. The issue is that the terrorists basically focus on Afghanistan. Increased attacks on them (terrorists) will help us to be calm,” said deputy spokesman to minister of interior Najibullah Danish.
 
“I can say it with guarantee that the terrorists are operating inside Pakistan and they are trained there. In order to eliminate the terrorists, we must tackle North Waziristan,” said MP Abdul Hai Akhundzada.
 
U.S military findings reveal that from among 100 terrorist groups in the world, 20 of them operate along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions.
 
An idea exists that Pakistan military’s Zarb-e-Azab operation also failed to eliminate terrorist groups along the border between the two countries and many of them fled to Afghanistan.

Pakistan-Based Terrorists Still A Threat To The U.S: Obama

In addition, Obama has said that his hardest decision during his two terms in office was regarding a massive troop surge in Afghanistan.

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 Outgoing U.S President Barack Obama has said that terrorist groups in Pakistan’s tribal regions pose an ongoing security threat to the United States, adding that one of the reasons for the U.S’s military presence in Afghanistan has been to target these militants.
 
Obama’s warning comes as the scale of violence has sharply increased in Afghanistan in recent months. However, the U.S military conducted only three air strikes on terror hideouts in Pakistan in 2016.
 
But U.S attacks on insurgents in Afghanistan increased by 40 percent last year.
 
In addition, Obama has said that his hardest decision during his two terms in office was regarding a massive troop surge in Afghanistan.
 
"Toughest decision was early in my presidency when I ordered 30,000 more troops into Afghanistan,” he said.
 
After a protracted debate inside the administration that pitted U.S military commanders against White House advisers, Obama announced the 30,000-troop surge in December 2009.
 
Even after decimating Al-Qaeda in Pakistan's tribal areas and killing the jihadist group's leader Osama bin Laden, groups in the region still "have both the interest and the capacity if we don't maintain vigilance to strike against the United States," he said.
 
A fresh report published by the U.S military shows that the U.S forces in 2016 carried out 1,337 military attacks inside Afghanistan, 400 attacks in Libya, 35 air strikes in Yemen, 14 attacks in Somalia and only three attacks on insurgents in Pakistan.
 
“The United States took over a thousand strikes last year 2016 and that is an increase from what took place in 2015 and that is really the result of two authorities that the US forces were provided.  Last January the US forces were given the authority to target ISK (Daesh),”  said Brig. Gen. Charles Cleveland, spokesperson for US and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
 
Meanwhile, some Afghan parliamentarians and interior ministry officials have also asked for military attacks to be increased on terrorists safe havens and hideouts in Pakistan.
 
“The fact is that the majority of sponsors operate in Pakistan and they give directions to the terrorists. The issue is that the terrorists basically focus on Afghanistan. Increased attacks on them (terrorists) will help us to be calm,” said deputy spokesman to minister of interior Najibullah Danish.
 
“I can say it with guarantee that the terrorists are operating inside Pakistan and they are trained there. In order to eliminate the terrorists, we must tackle North Waziristan,” said MP Abdul Hai Akhundzada.
 
U.S military findings reveal that from among 100 terrorist groups in the world, 20 of them operate along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border regions.
 
An idea exists that Pakistan military’s Zarb-e-Azab operation also failed to eliminate terrorist groups along the border between the two countries and many of them fled to Afghanistan.

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