WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (UPI) -- The priority for the U.S. relationship with Pakistan is to address the terrorism threat to the region, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad soured after an elite team of U.S. military forces killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden at his hideout inside Pakistan territory.
Ties were strained further following accusations the Pakistani intelligence agency had ties to the Haqqani network, a militant group that Washington blamed for a series of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan.
Despite the growing acrimony, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the issue at hand was counter-terrorism.
"Job One in our relationship with Pakistan is for us to work on (terrorist groups) and the problem that they are posing to Pakistan, to the U.S., to Afghanistan," she said.
Kabul is trying to reach out to moderate elements of the various insurgents groups inside the country as part of a broad-based reconciliation effort but recently expressed growing frustration with the Taliban.
The McClatchy news service adds that Kabul said Islamabad isn't cooperating in the investigation into last month's assassination of former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani, who led a reconciliation council.
Meanwhile, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan announced that Dilawar, an associate to Haqqani commander Haji Mali Khan, was killed in a joint operation in Khost province. Dilawar, known by only one name, was killed exactly one week after Khan was captured in a joint ISAF, Afghan operation.
