Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai believes that the new civilian government will take more effective steps against the Pakistani Taliban on the Afghan border.
This stance is the opposite of that of John McCain, who supported military dictator Pervez Musharraf (who was forced to resign as president in August under threat of impeachment).
Pakistani forces claim to have killed 15 Taliban north of Khar in the Bajaur tribal agency overnight. The fighting in this northernmost of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is said to have displaced 20,000 individuals to Kunar Province in Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of thousands of local residents to elsewhere in Pakistan.
In a reversal of charges, Pakistan is now saying that Pakistani Taliban in Bajaur are receiving aid and volunteers from Afghanistan. Most often the Afghanistan and Pakistan governments have charged that the Tehrik-i Taliban of Pakistan has aided Afghan Taliban mounting attacks on NATO troops.
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