Pentagon: Taliban finds havens in Pakistan

WASHINGTON -- Safe havens in northwest Pakistan prevent U.S., allied and Afghanistan forces from dealing a "decisive defeat" to insurgents, according to the Pentagon's latest assessment.

Pakistan-based sanctuary for insurgents such as the Haqqani network, as well as the financial and operational support insurgents receive from various sources, keep security volatile along Afghanistan's eastern border, the Defense Department said yesterday in a semiannual report.

The report provides an unclassified snapshot of the war in Afghanistan as the Obama administration prepares to assess how many troops of the remaining 66,000 U.S. personnel will be withdrawn next year and how many will remain after most depart by the end of 2014.

"The Taliban-led insurgency and its al-Qaida affiliates still operate from sanctuaries in Pakistan," according to the report's executive summary. "The insurgency's safe havens in Pakistan, the limited institutional capacity of the Afghan government and endemic corruption remain the greatest risks to long-term stability and sustainable security in Afghanistan."

The safe havens persist despite improving ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as better U.S.-Pakistan relations, a U.S. defense official said at a Pentagon news briefing.

The report cites positive developments, including transferring responsibilities to Afghans, who have taken the security lead for 76 percent of the population, the Pentagon says.

"The coalition and our Afghan partners blunted the insurgent summer offensive, continued to transition the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) into security lead, pushed violence out of most populated areas, and coalition member nations signed several international agreements to support the long-term stability and security of Afghanistan," according to the report's summary.