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 ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - Raging violence along the rugged Pakistan-Afghan border has sent relations between the two countries to new lows and underscored U.S. difficulties in containing a troubled region crucial to winning the war on terror.
The tensions are placing increasing pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, a U.S. counterterror ally who has been forced to defend his government against claims by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that Pakistan hasn't been doing enough to stem the flow of militants into Afghanistan.
"If the violence in Afghanistan escalates in the spring, then I think we are going to see this relationship become even more tense," said Samina Ahmed, an Islamabad-based expert with the International Crisis Group. "And Pakistanis are really concerned about how this affects their relations with the Americans."
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