US President Barack Obama on Friday said Pakistan must "take care" of the extremist Haqqani network, as a fierce dispute raged over US claims the group was an arm of Islamabad's intelligence agency.
Obama did not endorse the accusations, made by retiring chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, but said US intelligence was not entirely clear on links between Haqqani operatives and Pakistani spy agencies.
"I think Mike's testimony expressed frustration over the fact that safe havens exist, including the Haqqani network safe haven inside Pakistan," Obama said on the Michael Smerconish syndicated radio show.
"I think that the intelligence is not as clear as we might like in terms of what exactly that relationship is," Obama said.
"But my attitude is whether there is active engagement with Haqqani on the part of the Pakistanis or just passively allowing them to operate with impunity in some of these border regions, they have got to take care of this problem."
Last week, Mullen accused Pakistan of exporting violence to Afghanistan through proxies and charged that the Haqqani network, an Al-Qaeda-linked group, was a "veritable arm" of Pakistani intelligence.
His comments triggered new tensions with Islamabad, with Pakistani leaders closing ranks against US pressure for action against the Haqqanis and refusing to be pressured into doing more in the war on terror.
Obama said in the interview that there was "no doubt" that the US relationship with Pakistan "is not where it needs to be" though he did note outstanding cooperation with Islamabad in the fight against Al-Qaeda.
"We are going to keep on pressing them to recognize it is in their interests, not just ours, to make sure extremists are not operating within their borders," he said.
In a new report to Congress on US operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the White House said that Pakistani counter-insurgency operations in restive tribal areas along the border with Afghanistan were getting worse.
An unclassified version of the report said that tension between the two governments over the US raid in May which killed Osama bin Laden had also hit cooperation between American and Pakistani military officers in the region.
General security conditions worsened in the region between June and August this year, continuing a downward track, the report said.
"This period was marked by continued negative trends. Years of progress in cross-border coordination and collaboration faced increased challenges," the report said.
Meanwhile, a drawdown of US military contributions in Pakistan made it more difficult for Washington to help Pakistan's counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.
"Pakistan military operations continued in the (tribal areas), but insurgent activity and high-profile strikes against security and government forces contributed to a decline in the security situation," the report said.
The unclassified version of the report made no mention of the Haqqani network.