The US can launch operations against insurgent groups anywhere in the world without threatening national sovereignty, an Afghan military analyst said Sunday.
Retired General Atiqullah Amarkhail said that the US would be protected under international law if it chose to pursue insurgents in foreign countries.
"According to international laws, US can launch operation against insurgents anywhere in the world," he told TOLOnews, adding that it would benefit both Afghanistan and Pakistan if such operations succeeded in shutting down the militant networks.
Amarkhail's comments are responding to an Associated Press report saying that the US has considered launching covert operations against insurgent groups in Pakistan in close collaboration with Afghan special forces.
It is widely believed that many insurgents cross the border from Pakistan to attack US, Nato, and Afghan forces and then retreat back to safety.
The failure of Pakistan and US defence forces to stop these attacks has led to repeated discussion of "launching secret joint US-Afghan commando raids into Pakistan to hunt them down", the recently published AP report said.
However, according to AP, they have hesitated because the White House "believes the chance of successfully rooting out the powerful Haqqani network would not be worth the intense diplomatic blowback from Pakistan", which has already condemned the unmanned drone attacks on insurgents as a violation of Pakistan's sovereignty.