The regional US commander, David Petraeus, has urged Pakistan to step up pressure on the Afghan Taliban.

美国地区司令官戴维·彼得雷乌斯敦促巴基斯坦对阿富汗塔利班增加打击力度。

Gen Petraeus praised Pakistani soldiers in South Waziristan

Gen Petraeus praised Pakistan's recent offensive against the Taliban in South Waziristan, but said it was mainly aimed at Pakistani groups, not Afghans.

The Afghan Taliban have used safe areas inside Pakistan to base themselves and launch cross-border attacks.

But Pakistan said it was cracking down on all militants¹, and that at least 22 had been killed near the Afghan border.

Hiding out

Gen Petraeus, the head of US Central Command and the man in overall charge of US military strategy in the region, said that to make significant progress in Afghanistan "it would be very helpful if additional pressure could be put [by Pakistan] on the leadership of the elements that are causing problems in Afghanistan".

The leaders of the Afghan insurgency叛乱，暴动 are thought to be hiding out躲藏，暂时消失 in Pakistan's tribal³ areas and its province of Balochistan, but Pakistan has so far been reluctant to launch major operations in these areas, says the BBC's security correspondent, Frank Gardner.

Nevertheless然而，不过, a major offensive has been taking place in the Pakistani region of South Waziristan. Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said about 600 Taliban had been "eliminated" in that operation.

"We have put in a lot of pressure. And we intend to continue to do that," he said.

"For us, a terrorist is a terrorist, whether he operates on this side of the border or that side of the border," he added.

Tribal alliances

Gen Petraeus praised Pakistani operations, including that in South Waziristan.

"We think that the performance has been quite impressive," he said, noting that there had been significant losses, especially by Pakistani officers.

The army has captured territory in South Waziristan, a hotbed滋长地，温床 of Islamic militancy⁴, but many insurgents⁵ are believed to have fled to nearby regions.

In fighting at the weekend in the tribal部落的，种族的 region of Kurram, which is near South Waziristan, 22 militants and five soldiers were reported to have been killed.

Gen Petraeus, speaking at a security conference in Bahrain, also said methods used by the US in Iraq were being tried in Afghanistan.

He said he hoped the US could form alliances联盟，同盟 with local forces in Afghanistan along the lines of the Awakening⁶ movements in Iraq, in which Sunni tribes had allied⁷ with the US against al-Qaeda.