Sen. McCain calls for Pakistan to do more to stop terror attack

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Sen. John McCain demanded Friday that Pakistan do more to keep allies of Afgha-nistan's former ruling Taliban regime from launching cross-border attacks that have plagued regular Afghans, U.S. troops and foreign aid workers.

Insurgents in Afghanistan's south and east border regions have stepped up assaults recently, fueling concern that the hard-line Islamic militia ousted in late 2001 is regrouping.

McCain, with a U.S. congressional delegation visiting Afghanistan, said Pakistan was "not doing as much as it can" to stop the insurgents.

McCain, the Arizona Republican who ran for president in 2000, said the delegation would raise the issue when it meets Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday in Pakistan.

Pakistan withdrew its support for the Taliban following the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and has been a U.S. ally since. The Taliban had provided sanctuary to Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaida fighters.

"We are appreciative of the help that Pakistan has given us in the war on terror and in other ways, but we believe that more measures can be taken," McCain said after meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. "We'll be asking how the United States can help on the Pakistan side to prevent these escalating acts of terror."

Last weekend, Afghan officials claimed hundreds of Taliban guerrillas traveling in pickup trucks from the direction of Pakistan had staged deadly attacks against police in eastern province of Paktika -- the culmination of one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khursheed Kasuri said in Kabul on Friday that Pakistan had demonstrated its commitment to fighting terror by arresting hundreds of suspects and handing them over to the United States.

He said he had proposed stronger intelligence ties with Pakistan to stop cross border attacks, though he added that not all the assaults happen near the frontier.

Separately, Pakistan on Friday freed 41 men who had fought for the Taliban after authorities determined they did not have ties to terrorist groups, said Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, an adviser to the Punjab provincial government.

The men were arrested in neighboring Afghanistan but were returned to Pakistan last May.