KABUL, July 19: President Asif Ali Zardari and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai met here on Tuesday amid tensions between the two countries, exacerbated by cross-border attacks and accusations by Islamabad that Kabul was not doing anything to stop attacks on Pakistani territory by militants sheltered in its border areas.

Reports that rockets fired from Afghans hit a security post in South Waziristan and killed four soldiers on Tuesday and allegations levelled in the Afghan parliament that ISI was behind recent assassinations in that country heightened the tension.

During their talks the two leaders are reported to have discussed the issue of border violations and attacks by militants from the Afghan side into Pakistani territory and retaliatory shelling by Pakistani troops. They reiterated their resolve to combat tension and extremism till restoration of peace in the region.

The meeting at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, officials said, focused on bilateral relations and regional situation with specific reference to Afghanistan’s scenario after withdrawal of US troops.

President Zardari arrived in Kabul earlier in the day on a day-long visit to offer condolences to Mr Karzai on the assassination of his half-brother.

According to president’s spokesman Farhatullah Babar, Mr Zardari said that Pakistan was a strong supporter of peace and stability in Afghanistan and believed that its people must be given an opportunity to decide about their own future. The president said it was time to prioritise the wellbeing of Afghan people who had been suffering the effects of war-ravaged economy for decades.

President Karzai raised the issue of held-up Afghan containers carrying goods under the Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement.

Mr Zardari assured the Afghan president that containers carrying food and perishable items would be immediately allowed to transit through Pakistan while the commerce ministry would be asked to look into other issues.

According to official sources, the issue of bank guarantee for Afghan transporters and vehicles without temporary road transit admission documents are the main reasons for certain vehicles not being allowed to carry goods under the new Afghan Transit Trade Rules 2011.

In the Afghan parliament on Tuesday, Interior Minister Bismillah Mohammadi alleged that gunmen had made phone calls to provinces in Afghanistan and Pakistan before and after the Sunday attack in which a close aide of Mr Karzai was killed. He did not name specific groups or people who might have been involved.

Daoud Kalakani, a former strongman and now a member of parliament from Kabul, accused a top general in Pakistan’s intelligence agency and two senior Taliban commanders of putting together a hit-list of influential Afghans.

But security officials in Islamabad rejected the allegations and said these were figments of “someone’s sick mind”.—Agencies