Mullen meets Kayani to discuss regional security

ISLAMABAD: The top US military officer held talks in Pakistan on Wednesday on the new war strategy for Afghanistan, which Washington says hinges on Pakistan’s own battle against militants. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began talks with Pakistan’s chief of army staff General Ashfaq Kayani on Wednesday morning, a senior military official told AFP.
Mullen arrived from Kabul late Tuesday and has already met General Tariq Majid, ceremonial head of the armed forces, during which US President Barack Obama’s plan for turning around the unpopular Afghan war topped the agenda.
He discussed the ‘evolving regional security situation with particular focus on revised US strategy for Afghanistan and the region, especially its impact and short and long term implications for Pakistan,’ a military statement said.
‘Aspects of bilateral military cooperation also came under discussion.’
Visiting Afghanistan earlier this week, Mullen expressed concern about ‘growing’ collusion between Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda and other extremist groups sheltering in nuclear-armed Pakistan.
Mullen’s visit coincided with a suicide car bomb in a busy market in the town of Dera Ghazi Khan in central Pakistan Tuesday which killed at least 27 people.
It also came after a similar visit to Pakistan this week by US General David Petraeus, head of the US Central Command