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THE STANS
Afghan leader Karzai calls China 'anchor of stability'
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 27, 2013


US drone kills three in Pakistan
Miranshah, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 29, 2013 - A US drone strike killed three militants on Sunday in a restive Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border, officials said.

The attack took place in the Dargamandi area, seven kilometres (four miles) north of Miranshah which is the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region.

The area is a bastion of militants linked to the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

"A US drone fired two missiles on a militant compound, killing three rebels," a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Another local official confirmed the attack and casualties. However, an intelligence official in Miranshah put the toll at four.

The area targeted by the drone is said to be the stronghold of Afghanistan's Haqqani network, a guerrilla faction linked to the Taliban.

US drone attacks are deeply unpopular in Pakistan, but Washington sees them as a vital tool in the fight against militants in the lawless tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly protested against drone strikes as a violation of its sovereignty.

But privately officials have been reported as saying the attacks can be useful in removing militants from the country.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai hailed ties with China Friday, describing it as a stabilising force in the region and world during talks with the country's leaders.

Karzai, who had attended an economic conference in the northern city of Xian, held talks in Beijing with China's President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.

The meeting came as China has boosted its diplomacy with Afghanistan since last year ahead of a planned withdraw of US-led NATO troops in 2014.

"We consider China to be an anchor of stability for this region and the larger world," Karzai told Li during the hour-long talks.

Later, Karzai was given an an elaborate welcoming ceremony at central Beijing's ornate Great Hall of the People, including a 21-gun salute, ahead of the start of talks with Xi.

"The trust of our friendship has been tested and approved," Karzai said, noting he has visited the country five or six times over the past 12 years.

Xi told Karzai his visit came at an "important time and affords an important opportunity for interaction with the new leadership of China".

Li told the Afghan president he had "played an important leadership role in leading the people of Afghanistan in their peace and reconstruction efforts".

Ministers from both sides also signed agreements on extradition and economic and technical cooperation.

In September last year Beijing sent its highest-ranking official to visit Kabul in nearly half a century, the security chief at the time Zhou Yongkang.

China has secured major oil and copper mining concessions in the country, which is believed to possess minerals worth more than $1 trillion.

Other regional players such as India and Iran have also begun scrambling for influence ahead of the troop pullout. China and Afghanistan share a short border of 76 kilometres (47 miles).

Karzai visited Beijing in June 2012 where he attended a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, during which Afghanistan was granted observer status.

The grouping led by China and Russia is meant to counterbalance US and NATO influence in the region.

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