Afghanistan, Pakistan targeting militants

ISLAMABAD, Afghanistan, Dec. 26 (UPI) -- The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to share more intelligence about militants and tighten border security.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf agreed to tighten border controls and direct their intelligence agencies to share information on regional militant activities, Voice of America reported.

Musharraf said that by freely sharing intelligence, the two countries could help limit the spread of terrorism.

"People of both the countries are suffering at the hands of these extremists terrorists," he said. "To meet this challenge and threat we discussed how we could cooperate on the intelligence side. The two intelligence agencies on both sides must cooperate more strongly if we are to deal with terrorists and extremists more effectively. That is the key."

Karzai said that the two countries would focus on the roots of the militant problem and the sources used by militant groups throughout the region.

"We have recognized that there is a problem that we are both facing -- what are the roots of these problems what are the sources and backups of these militant groups in both the countries," the Pakistani leader said.