E-Paper
Obama warns of Pak nukes falling into terror hands
US President Barack Obama today described the Pak-Afghan border as the "epicentre" of violent extremism and said stakes are higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan with the danger of its nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terror groups.
US President Barack Obama today described the Pak-Afghan border as the "epicentre" of violent extremism and said stakes are higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan with the danger of its nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terror groups.
"Our security is at stake in Afghanistan and Pakistan", Obama said while unveiling his much-awaited Af-Pak policy.
"This is the epicentre of violent extremism practiced by al Qaeda. It is from here that we were attacked on 9/11, and it is from here that new attacks are being plotted as I speak. This is no idle danger; no hypothetical threat," he warned.
Obama sounded the alarm of of nuclear weapons in Pakistan falling into wrong hands.
"The people and governments of both Afghanistan and Pakistan are endangered. And the stakes are even higher within a nuclear-armed Pakistan, because we know that al Qaeda and other extremists seek nuclear weapons, and we have every reason to believe that they would use them," he said.
Obama announced 30,000 additional US troops for Afghanistan and a plan to start exiting from the war-torn country after 18 months.
Pakistani Taliban have targeted the country's nuclear installations on three occasions in the past and have threatened to lay their hands on the atomic arsenal, causing serious concerns in the West.
