The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen held a two-hour private meeting late Friday with his Pakistani counterpart, Kayani, during a military conference in Seville, Spain, where the two discussed their nations' complicated relationship.
Mullen has expressed "deep concerns" about violent attacks mounted by the Haqqani network. The US has again pressed the Pakistani military to take action against militant havens, officials said, the New York Times reported.
"Admiral Mullen conveyed his deep concerns about the increasing — and increasingly brazen — activities of the Haqqani network and restated his strong desire to see the Pakistani military take action against them and their safe havens in North Waziristan," said Capt. John Kirby, the chairman's special assistant for public affairs.
Relations with Pakistan have not recovered from a near-rupture after the killing of Osama bin Laden by American commandos operating deep inside Pakistan in early May.
In recent days, American military officials said that a brazen attack on the United States Embassy compound and NATO headquarters in Kabul bore the hallmarks of the Haqqani network, a militant group based in Pakistan.
American officials have said they have compelling evidence that Haqqani fighters have received support and direction from Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate.