'Major military operation' ongoing against Haqqanis: Clinton

KABUL: A major offensive is under way against Haqqani militants in eastern Afghanistan and Pakistan must act to remove safe havens on its side of the border, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday.

"We are taking action against the Haqqanis. There was a major military operation inside Afghanistan in recent days," she told a joint news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"It continues. That has been rounding up and eliminating Haqqani operatives on this side of the border," she added.

The top US diplomat also said there was an "international effort to squeeze the Haqqani with their funding and other aspects of their operations".

Clinton confirmed that the United States believes the network operates out of a "safe haven in Pakistan".

"And now it's a question as to how much cooperation Pakistanis will provide in going after those safe havens," she added.

Clinton is later Thursday due in Pakistan, where she is to be joined by CIA chief David Petraeus and top US military officer Martin Dempsey.

"We intend to push the Pakistanis very hard as to what they are willing and able to do with us... to remove the safe havens and the continuing threats across the border to Afghans," said Clinton.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011