Washington:
Worried by the "worst" and "unthinkable" possibility of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of the Taliban, the US is pushing Islamabad hard to devise a strategy to regain control of the country, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
The unchecked advances of Taliban which moved to about 100 km of Islamabad by taking control of Burner district just outside the capital region has stunned the Obama Administration.
Reacting to the Taliban's march towards other Pakistani cities from their stronghold in SWAT, Clinton said the US cannot even contemplate that and cannot let this go on any further.
"One of our concerns, which we've raised with the Pakistani government and military is that if the worst, the unthinkable were to happen, and this advancing Taliban encouraged and supported by Al-Qaida and other extremists were to essentially topple the government for failure to beat them back -- then they would have the keys to the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan," Clinton told Fox News.
"We can't even contemplate that. We cannot, you know, let this go on any further. Which is why we're pushing so hard for the Pakistanis to come together around a strategy to take their country back," Clinton said, three days after she asked the Pakistani leadership of basically abdicating to the advancing Taliban.