US hints at striking terror havens in Pakistan if Islamabad doesn't act

A senior Trump administration official had earlier said that the US is not satisfied with Pakistan's cooperation in the war against terror.

Ahead of US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis' visit to Pakistan, CIA director Mike Pompeo has warned that the US may consider action against terrorist havens in Pakistan if Islamabad does not do enough.

Reagan National Defence Forum in California on Saturday, Pompeo said that the US would do "everything it can" to ensure that "safe haven no longer exists".

"(Secretary Mattis) will make clear the president's intent. (He) will deliver the message that we would love you to do that. And that the safe haven inside of Pakistan has worked to the detriment of our capacity to do what we needed to do in Afghanistan...In the absence of the Pakistanis achieving that, we are going to do everything we can to make sure that safe haven no longer exists," the Dawn quoted Pompeo as saying.

A senior Trump administration official had earlier said that the US is not satisfied with Pakistan's cooperation in the war against terror as part of its South Asia strategy and is yet to see Islamabad taking steps to "rein in" the Taliban and the Haqqani network. He also termed the release of Mumbai-terror attack accused Hafiz Saeed as "a step backward" in that direction.

Trump had a meeting with his Defense Secretary Jim Mattis before he left on his visit to Pakistan. The defense Secretary is again likely to brief the president on his return.

OneIndia News