No evidence Kabul attacks emanated out of Pakistan

WASHINGTON: The United States has no intelligence at this time to suggest that a string of Taliban attacks in high-security parts of Kabul emanated out of Pakistan, top US defense leaders said.

Secretary Defense Leon Panetta and the highest-ranked military officer Gen Martin Dempsey acknowledged the fact that the Haqqani militants - believed by US to be involved in the attacks - exist on both sides of Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Gen Dempsey, who is chairman Joint Chiefs Staff, said while the evidence leads us to believe that the Haqqani network was involved in this, it doesn't lead back into Pakistan at this time. "The threat -- you know, the Haqqani network exists on both sides of the border," Dempsey noted.

We're not prepared to suggest this emanated out of Pakistan, Dempsey said, at a joint Pentagon Press appearance along with Secretary Defense Leon Panetta. I mean, the evidence may at some point lead us there, but we"re not there yet, he added.

The attacks over the weekend mean we're still in a fight, the general said. Some fighting will be tough, and there will be casualties, he said.

Panetta confirmed that intelligence points to the Haqqani network as being behind the coordinated attacks over the weekend.

We had received a great deal of intelligence indicating that the Haqqanis were planning these kinds of attacks, he said.

Obviously, we're always concerned about the attacks that take place. They reflect that the Taliban is resilient, that they remain determined.

And yet I think we're also confident that the Afghans have increased their capability to deal with these kinds of attacks. The attacks were nothing more than terror attacks, which succeeded in gaining attention, but ultimately proving nothing, the defense secretary told reporters.

"There were no tactical gains here, "he said. "These are isolated attacks that are done for symbolic purposes, and they have not regained any territory."

The enemy in Afghanistan has not been able to conduct a meaningful, organized campaign since 2010, the secretary said. The lack of impact from yesterday's attacks also indicates improvement in Afghan forces, he added. "The Afghan army and police did a great job of reacting to these attacks," he said.