US worried over Pak nukes falling into Taliban hands after toppling government

Washington, Apr.26 (ANI): With the Taliban inching precariously closer to Islamabad, and fears of a takeover of the country by the insurgents getting stronger, the United States has expressed serious concern about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal getting into the hands of the Taliban.

Washington feels that Pakistan's nuclear armaments are in safe custody for the time being, but it is worried about the weapons of mass destruction getting into the hands of the extremists after they topple the democratic set up in the country.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview to a private television, said that Pakistan has assured it about the safety of the nuclear weapons, but the current volatile situation of the country is what which raises questions over all the assurances of Islamabad.

"I think that the current thinking of our government is that it is safe,"

"One of our concerns, which we've raised with the Pakistani government and military is that if the worst, the unthinkable were to happen, and this advancing Taliban encouraged and supported by Al-Qaeda and other extremists were to essentially topple the government for failure to beat them back, then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan," a worried Clinton told Fox News.

She said that Pakistan, US and the international community could not afford to let the insurgents succeed in their nefarious aims, and that is why the Obama Administration has been pressing Islamabad to take stern action against the Taliban's surge.

"We can't even contemplate that. We cannot, you know, let this go on any further. Which is why we're pushing so hard for the Pakistanis to come together around a strategy to take their country back," Clinton said.

The United States, in the recent past, has expressed serious concerns about the Talibani surge in Pakistan. The Obama administration had also said that the President is very concerned about the issue which is taking a 'considerable amount' of his time. (ANI)