Afghanistan ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai Sunday inflamed relations with Islamabad by threatening to send troops into Pakistan to hunt down Taliban fighters who find sanctuary across the border.

Karzai alleged that Pakistan was secretly supporting the Taliban, including providing a refuge for the group’s leader, Mullah Omar. The United States, struggling militarily in Afghanistan, has also accused Pakistan, supposedly a key ally in the anti-terror fight, of providing shelter for militants. Pakistan has angrily rejected the charge.

“Afghanistan has the right to destroy terrorist nests on the other side of the border in self-defense,” Karzai said, speaking to reporters in Kabul.

“When they cross the border from Pakistan to come and kill Afghans and coalition troops, it gives us exactly the right to go back and do the same.”