Pakistan controls Taliban: Afghan Army Chief

KABUL: Fighting in Afghanistan could be stopped "in weeks" if Pakistan told the Taliban to end the insurgency, the head of the Afghan army has told the British TV.

Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi said Pakistan controlled and gave shelter to Taliban leaders, deliberately unleashing fighters on Afghanistan.

Pakistan denies controlling the militant group.

It was one of the Taliban's main supporters from its launch in 1994 until the 2001 fall of the regime. Most of the Taliban's leaders reportedly then fled to Pakistan and the group still considered heavily dependent on the support of certain elements in the country.

"The Taliban are under [Pakistan's] control - the leadership is in Pakistan," Gen Karimi told. "Madrassas have been closed and all the Taliban have been unleashed to Afghanistan."

Afghanistan could achieve peace if this was desired by both the US and Pakistan, said the general.