NATO's chief says alliance forces in Afghanistan will not enter neighboring Pakistan to hunt militants there.
But Jaap de Hoop Scheffer says soldiers have the right to defend themselves if attacked from across the border.
Speakingat a joint news conference in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid KarzaiThursday, de Hoop Scheffer said NATO will not seek a wider U.N. mandateallowing forces to target militant hide-outs in Pakistan.
PresidentKarzai told reporters the fight against terrorism is not inAfghanistan, and the country will not be secure unless theinternational community addresses the question of sanctuaries inPakistan.
Afghan and U.S. officials have expressed concerns thatmilitants are using Pakistan's tribal areas as a base for attacks onU.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.
The NATO chief today said Pakistan must be part of a regional solution to the problem.
SeparatelyThursday, Afghan officials said dozens of Taliban militants have beenkilled during a clash with Afghan troops in the country's southernZabul province.
The fighting erupted when militants tried toattack Afghan forces on the main road between the capital, Kabul, andthe southern city of Kandahar.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan, NATOand Afghan forces killed at least 15 militants today, as they tried toregain control of a remote Ajristan district in Ghazni province.
AlsoThursday, officials say four Afghan police officers were killed when aroadside bomb struck their vehicle in the eastern province of Paktia.
And officials say three more police officers were killed in a similar incident in western Farah province today.
Inother news, the European Union today named Italy's ambassador to Kabul,Ettore Sequi, as its new special representative in Afghanistan.