Afghans receive Pakistani assurance

Afghanistan and Pakistan have pledged greater military co-operation to tackle pro-Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters along their shared borders.Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, met Asif Ali Zardari, his Pakistani counterpart, in Ankara, the Turkish capital, on Wednesday.Senior military commanders and intelligence chiefs from the two countries also attended the talks. "We can collectively work together for stability and security in the region," Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Pakistan's foreign minister, said after the talks had concluded."Our political leadership, our ministers and our army chiefs met and evaluated today our security situation. I don't think this nature of meetings have taken place anywhere at any time."Kabul has repeatedly accused Islamabad of not doing enough to stop fighters crossing the border to carry out attacks, but ties have improved under Zardari as he battles growing violence in the tribal regions along the border with Afghanistan.