Gates warns of militant havens ahead of Pakistan visit

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has made an unannounced trip to Pakistan on Thursday. This is his 1^st visit after US president Barack Obama has took office last year. Mr. Gates has told reporters that he will raise thorny issues on the two-day trip, including manifestations of anti-Americanism that include “problems with our visas and harassment of our people”.

Gates earlier on Thursday warned that Taliban safe havens along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border must be tackled or both nations would suffer “more lethal and more brazen” attacks.

Ahead of his visit to Islamabad, in India he praises Pakistan’s military attack on South Waziristan and other part of the country in recent months. But US officials have made clear that Washington is anxious to see Islamabad also target the Afghan Taliban operating within its borders and Al-Qaeda-linked militants holed up in the lawless northwest tribal region.

“It is important to remember that the Pakistani Taliban operates in collusion with both the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda, so it is impossible to separate those groups,” Gates wrote in Pakistan's The News.

“If history is any indication, safe havens for either Taliban, on either side of the border, will in the long run lead to more lethal and more brazen attacks in both nations,” he added in the editorial.

The Pentagon chief's visit comes at a time of diplomatic tension as a volley of US drone missile strikes hit the tribal belt and Washington presses Pakistan to crack down harder on Islamist extremists.

According to officials, Pakistan’s defense requirements, India’s role in Afghanistan, the new US policy on Afghanistan and ongoing operations against militants are some of the issues on the agenda for talks.