Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan to 'Jointly Combat Terrorism'

The presidents of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan agreed on Saturday to join forces in combating terrorism, in a joint statement issued after three-way talks in Tehran.

"All sides stressed their commitment to efforts aimed at eliminating extremism, militancy, terrorism, as well as rejecting foreign interference, which is in blatant opposition to the spirit of Islam, the peaceful cultural traditions of the region and its peoples' interests," the statement said.

"All sides agreed to continue meeting at foreign, interior, security and economy ministers' level to prepare a road map for the next summit due to be held in Islamabad before the end of 2011," added the statement carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Iran and Pakistan also "supported the ongoing national reconciliation in Afghanistan."

Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Iranian and Pakistani counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Asif Ali Zardari held three-way talks on Friday ahead of a six-nation counter-terrorism conference on Saturday.

The three leaders discussed "ways of battling terrorism, extremism and drug trafficking," IRNA said on Friday.

A statement posted on the Iranian presidency website said on Friday that the trio "expressed concern over a rising lack of security, extremism and terrorism, and insisted on the need for cooperation to combat these phenomena."

The Tehran summit came as 60 people were killed and 120 wounded in a bombing at an Afghan hospital on Saturday, according to a public health ministry toll.

It also came hot on the heels of an announcement by US President Barack Obama that Washington will withdraw 33,000 of its 99,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer.