Kerry urges Pakistan to fight terror groups threatening whole region

(Reuters) - Pakistan must fight militant groups that threaten Afghan, Indian and U.S. interests, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Tuesday as he offered sympathy for the victims of last month's massacre of children at a Pakistani school.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan has long been suspected by the West of playing a double game, fighting some militants while supporting those its generals have regarded as strategic assets to be used against rivals and neighbors, India and Afghanistan.

Visiting Pakistan after going to India at the weekend, Kerry said all militant groups should be targeted to bring security to the region.

"Terror groups like the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban, the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba and other groups continue to pose a threat to Pakistan, to its neighbours and to the United States," Kerry told a news conference in Islamabad, listing some of the most feared groups.

"And all of us have a responsibility to ensure that these groups do not gain a foothold but rather are pushed back into the recesses of (Pakistan’s) memory... Make no mistake. The task is a difficult one and it is not done."

Most U.S.-led forces in neighbouring Afghanistan officially completed their combat mission last month, prompting concern about the stability of the region where insurgents have been increasingly aggressive in past months.

Following the attack on the Peshawar school in which 134 children were killed, Pakistan has promised to stop differentiating between "good" and "bad" militants and to step up operations against their hideouts on the Afghan border.

Before leaving Pakistan for Geneva, where he is due to meet Iranian Foreign Minister Jawad Zarif, Kerry had been expected to travel to the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar to visit the victims but the plan was scrapped.

The United States identified Pakistan as a key partner in its war against terror following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and spent billions of dollars on military aid to help the country fight insurgents.   Read More