Islamabad – US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad Monday for talks on counter-insurgency efforts in the north-west, an official said.

Both officials were on their first visit since US President Barack Obama unveiled last month a new strategy for Afghanistan which placed Pakistan at the centre of US plans to turn tables on al-Qaeda and Taliban militants using Pakistan’s lawless tribal region to launch cross border attacks on international forces.

“They are scheduled to meet senior Pakistani government officials including President Asif Ali Zardari and and military leadership,” said a spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Both sides will hold talks on “a variety of bilateral and regional issues,” he added.

The visit comes as Islamic militants stepped up strikes inside Pakistan.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber targeted a gathering of Shiite Muslims in Chakwal district, killing 26 and injuring about 50 people, a day after a suicide bombing killed eight paramilitary soldiers in Islamabad.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organization for around a dozen militant groups, accepted responsibility of Islamabad strike and warned more such attacks would follow in the coming days.

The suicide bombings will continue till the government forced the US government to stop drone attacks, TTP spokesman Hakeemullah Mehsud was cited as telling the Dawn newspaper.

US in recent months have carried out dozens of attacks by pilotless drones on militant hideouts in tribal belt and killed many al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders and fighters.

But the civilian deaths in these air-raids have fuelled public anger, which Islamabad is expected to convey to the visiting US officials.

Holbrooke and Mullen would also hold talks with various Pakistani political leaders.

Islamabad – US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen arrived in Islamabad Monday for talks on counter-insurgency efforts in the north-west, an official said.

Both officials were on their first visit since US President Barack Obama unveiled last month a new strategy for Afghanistan which placed Pakistan at the centre of US plans to turn tables on al-Qaeda and Taliban militants using Pakistan’s lawless tribal region to launch cross border attacks on international forces.

“They are scheduled to meet senior Pakistani government officials including President Asif Ali Zardari and and military leadership,” said a spokesman for Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Both sides will hold talks on “a variety of bilateral and regional issues,” he added.

The visit comes as Islamic militants stepped up strikes inside Pakistan.

On Sunday, a suicide bomber targeted a gathering of Shiite Muslims in Chakwal district, killing 26 and injuring about 50 people, a day after a suicide bombing killed eight paramilitary soldiers in Islamabad.

The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella organization for around a dozen militant groups, accepted responsibility of Islamabad strike and warned more such attacks would follow in the coming days.

The suicide bombings will continue till the government forced the US government to stop drone attacks, TTP spokesman Hakeemullah Mehsud was cited as telling the Dawn newspaper.

US in recent months have carried out dozens of attacks by pilotless drones on militant hideouts in tribal belt and killed many al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders and fighters.

But the civilian deaths in these air-raids have fuelled public anger, which Islamabad is expected to convey to the visiting US officials.

Holbrooke and Mullen would also hold talks with various Pakistani political leaders.