ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - The presidents of Pakistan and Afghanistan pledged Wednesday to increase the co-operation of their intelligence agencies and tighten border controls in an effort to crack down on Taliban and al Qaeda-linked militants along the two countries' chaotic border region.
"People from both the countries are suffering under the hands of extremism and terrorism,'' President Pervez Musharraf told a joint news conference after meeting Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Islamabad.
Afghan officials have repeatedly said Taliban- and al Qaeda-linked militants use bases inside Pakistan to orchestrate attacks against Karzai's U.S.-backed government.
In a speech last week, Karzai said militant sanctuaries were located beyond Afghanistan's borders and he wanted the U.S.-led fight against terrorism "to go after their shelters ... and training centres.''
On Wednesday, Karzai said that while militant activity in Afghanistan was decreasing, it was rising on the Pakistani side of the border.
Pakistan has denied the Afghan charges, but its security officials have acknowledged that local tribal fighters and militants of Arab, Afghan and Central Asian origin operate in the country's tribal regions along the Afghan border.
Karzai landed at an airbase near the capital, Islamabad, on Wednesday afternoon at the start of his two-day visit here.
A recent U.S. intelligence report indicated that al Qaeda may be regrouping in North Waziristan, a tribal region where militants have staged almost daily attacks against Pakistani security forces in recent months.
When he declared a state of emergency in November, Musharraf cited the fight against increasing militancy in the country's northwestern areas close to Afghanistan.
The emergency has been lifted, but Pakistan has seen a spate of suicide attacks in recent weeks. One bomber struck a crowded mosque Friday, killing 56 people.
