US White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has said that the presence of al-Qaeda and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan is not an issue of concern for only the US, rather it is of international concern and that is the reason for deploying the international security force there.

"Obviously the problems that we face with-in Afghanistan and in Pakistan dealing with al-Qaeda and its extremist allies, their potential return, an environment that allows, if they were to return, unfettered planning for an additional terrorist attack-that's not something that's simply in the interest of the United States in preventing. It's of international concern.... That's why there is an international security assistance force there," The Nation quoted Gibbs, as saying.

Gibbs said that NATO contributed an increase in forces on the ground in Afghanistan as part of what US President Barack Obama had announced at West Point, last December.

Meanwhile, Obama had a discussion on the war against terrorism and the present situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan with visiting NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the White House.

"The two leaders discussed progress in implementing our shared strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan and ways to further strengthen the international community's efforts," the White House said in a statement. (ANI)