by Bronwyn Curran
ISLAMABAD, Aug 24 (AFP) - Pakistan and Afghanistan have reaffirmed they are partners in fighting terrorism, Afghan President Hamid Karzai declared Tuesday at the end of a two-day visit.
Ties between the neighbours have been strained by Taliban attacks in Afghanistan allegedly launched from Pakistani border areas.
"We had a detailed discussion today, on relations between the two countries, on terrorism," Karzai said after "frank and detailed" talks with outgoing Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat.
"The consequence of this discussion has been the reaffirmation of the brotherly ties between the two countries, the reaffirmation of our joint struggle against terrorism."
Kabul and Islamabad, formerly the chief backer of the now defunct 1996-2001 Taliban regime, are battling Islamic militant insurgents and are key United States allies in the war on terrorism.
Hundreds of Al-Qaeda members fled Afghanistan during the US-led attacks to topple the Taliban in late 2001, only to flood into Pakistan.
Afghan officials say scores of Taliban fighters are hiding in Pakistani border sanctuaries along with Al-Qaeda fugitives, using the hideouts to orchestrate attacks inside Afghanistan.
They have accused Islamabad, which has arrested more than 500 Al-Qaeda suspects including several key operatives, of going soft on the Taliban fighters.
Karzai discussed the fight against terrorism with his Pakistani counterpart President Pervez Musharraf on Monday.
Musharraf promised to prevent Taliban insurgents from using Pakistani territory to disrupt Afghanistan`s upcoming elections.
"Anybody trying to carry out terrorist activities in Afghanistan or to disrupt the election process ... will not be allowed from Pakistan, we will act against them," Musharraf said.
"The Pakistani army is operating very strongly against Al-Qaeda, we know that they are on the run, they are dispersed and displaced from a number of valleys which were their sanctuaries," he said referring to a series of air and ground assaults since January.
The raids sent scores of Al-Qaeda operatives fleeing eastwards to crowded towns and cities. A raft of top operatives have been arrested from eastern cities in an intensive crackdown since mid-July, leading to the penetration of an active Al-Qaeda wing plotting fresh attacks in Britain, Pakistan and the US.
In a goodwill gesture Karzai announced that the last 400 Pakistani pro-Taliban fighters who had been languishing in Afghanistan`s decrepit prisons since the Islamic militia`s defeat would be released.
Islamabad in turn ordered the release of 250 Afghans held for illegal entry.
Pakistan hailed Karzai`s decision on one of their most contentious bilateral issues as "a breakthrough."
"I think that there has been a breakthrough ... I think that`s a very good development," foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan told reporters.
The released prisoners are the last of some 2,000 Pakistani fighters taken prisoner in late 2001, of an estimated 6,000 who went to back up the Taliban.
As Musharraf spoke with Karzai Monday, his army launched fresh raids on militants near the Afghan border, killing four foreign fighters, military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan said.
Army operations to wipe out sanctuaries, hideouts and training camps used by militant fighters were continuing Tuesday, Sultan said.
Taliban fighters have been killing foreign and local aid workers, troops and officials mainly in southeast Afghanistan for over a year in a campaign to destabilise Karzai`s administration.
They have stepped up attacks, as threatened, in the run up to the Afghan presidential election on October 9. Twelve electoral workers have been killed and 33 wounded since May in Afghanistan in attacks blamed on the Taliban.
The visit was Karzai`s first to Islamabad since last year, when he presented his hosts with a list of key Taliban commanders believed to be at large in Pakistan.
Few of the commanders have been rounded up.