The Pakistan government is not colluding with the Taliban, although some rebels come from across the border to fight in Afghanistan, the US commander for the region said on Saturday.
General John Abizaid, head of the US Central Command that covers parts of Africa and the Middle East, was speaking during a brief visit to the main US base in Afghanistan at Bagram, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Kabul.
"There is always this notion that there is collusion on the part of the Pakistani government that I see always talked about in the press in the region and I absolutely don't believe that," Abizaid told reporters.
The sources of the Taliban force, which does not seem to diminish despite heavy casualties inflicted by troops, were both inside Afghanistan and areas of Pakistan along the long border between the countries, he said.
The governments of the neighbouring nations have long accused each other of not doing enough to quell the Taliban uprising, which is felt on both sides of the border.
"Pakistani soldiers are fighting and dying to accomplish their military missions and I think we should give them respect ... you don't order your soldiers in the field against an enemy in order to play some sort of a game with neighbouring countries," Abizaid said. Pakistan says it has about 80,000 troops on its side of the frontier trying to root out militants and stop them from crossing into Afghanistan.
The general said he believed the Pakistani military and President Pervez Musharraf were "committed" to the fight against terrorism although they experienced difficulties that did not allow "all areas to be controlled all of the time."
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