ངོ་འཕྲད་བདེ་བའི་དྲ་འབྲེལ།

གཟའ་པ་སངས། ༢༠༢༤/༠༣/༢༩

Rumsfeld, in Kabul, Calls for More Help for Afghanistan


U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says regional cooperation with Afghanistan's neighbors to stop Taleban and al-Qaeda movements in the country has been helpful, but is not enough.

During an unannounced visit to Kabul Tuesday Rumsfeld said the increased cooperation has not reduced cross-border activity.

He also urged European countries to take a greater role in helping Afghanistan reduce its massive illegal drug trade. Afghanistan supplies up 90-percent of the world's opium and heroin.

Rumsfeld is expected to meet with President Hamid Karzai later today.

U.S.-led coalition officials say troops killed at least 30 Taleban rebels during a raid today on a militant hideout in Helmand province. No Afghan or coalition injuries were reported.

Monday, around 40 Taleban insurgents were killed in Uruzgan province. One Afghan soldier was killed in that attack.

U.S-coalition and Afghan forces are conducting a large-scale offensive in southern Afghanistan to capture or kill Taleban insurgents.

Rumsfeld was in Tajikistan earlier, where he said Afghanistan's illegal drug trade may be helping to fuel a Taleban resurgence, potentially undermining the young Afghan democracy.

He says he is concerned that money from the sale of those drugs could end up having an adverse affect on the democratic process in the country.

On Monday, Rumsfeld met with President Emomali Rakhmonov for talks on U.S.-Tajikistan cooperation, the fight against terrorism and drug trafficking in Central Asia.
XS
SM
MD
LG