April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistan and Pakistan should increase security cooperation to prevent the Taliban and other movements destabilizing their border region, said Tom Koenigs, the head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan.

``Stability in Afghanistan and stability in Pakistan are closely linked,'' Koenigs said yesterday in the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to the UN. Pakistan is aware it has to ``prevent the Talibanization of Afghanistan and Pakistan.''

Pakistan must work with Afghanistan to secure their 2,430- kilometer (1,510-mile) border, said Koenigs, who met Pakistani government officials recently during a visit to the country.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have increased their security cooperation in recent weeks since tensions arose over Afghan charges that Taliban and al-Qaeda operatives use bases in Pakistan's tribal region to carry out attacks on Afghan territory, a charge Pakistan denies. Many Taliban and al-Qaeda fighters fled across the border to escape the U.S.-led war on terrorism.

``Extremists, terrorists and other enemy action in Afghanistan will only lead to what you have experienced in the last decades,'' Koenigs said in Kabul, referring to years of civil war in the country. Koenigs heads the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, known as UNAMA.

Fighting Terrorists

Pakistan has about 80,000 soldiers fighting terrorists in the border region, in an operation that began in 2003. U.S.-led forces and the 30,000-strong Afghan National Army are extending their operations into southern and eastern regions of Afghanistan hunting for bases of the Taliban and al-Qaeda. The Taliban had its stronghold in the southern city of Kandahar before it was ousted from power in 2001.

``Efforts being made at this moment in the southern provinces are very promising,'' Koenigs said. ``The security situation has improved and quite a number of conflicts have ceased to exist.''

Taliban fighters have increased their attacks, including suicide bombings, as coalition forces move into southern and eastern regions. U.S. and Afghan forces earlier this month began Operation Mountain Lion in the southern provinces of Kunar, Nuristan and Nangahar. About 2,500 coalition soldiers are taking part, supported by coalition aircraft.

Afghanistan's economic growth hasn't reached the south because security has yet to stabilize there, Koenigs said.

UNAMA ``will try to increase our presence in the southern provinces in the course of this year to support the government to function,'' he said.

Economy Expands

Afghanistan's economy will probably expand 14 percent this fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund said on March 8. The economy expanded 8 percent last year.

Gross domestic product is expected to be $7.1 billion in the year ending March 20 after good weather brought a recovery in agriculture, the Washington-based IMF said in its annual report on the country's economy.

Afghanistan's government improved tax collections and made the dispersal of public expenditures more transparent, the IMF said. It must now move to create an environment that is hospitable to private investment, the IMF said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 27, 2006 21:57 EDT