US Helping Pakistan, Afghanistan: McCormack

WASHINGTON: The United States on Friday said it is helping both Pakistan and Afghanistan work through the issues related to the "tough problem" of controlling their border and expressed the hope for continued communications between the two neighbors. "It is a tough problem controlling that border, there are issues on the Pakistani side, there are issues on the Afghan side, and we are helping both sides work through these issues and would expect that the communications between the Afghans and the Pakistanis will also continue," State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said. He cited the recent cooperative effort by anti-terrorism partners in the joint investigation into last month's incident on a Pakistani border post in the Pakistani tribal area. McCormack said while the findings were different the partners agreed they would increase resources to help personnel on both sides of the border in terms of border posts, improved communication and, demarcate the border where the line is.