KABUL, DEC 22 (DNA) – US Vice President Mike Pence aimed a jab at Pakistan — reiterating word for word Trump s warning that it must stop offering cross-border safe havens to Taliban factions and armed jihadist groups fighting US troops and their Afghan allies.

Mike Pence has outlined President Donald Trump s strategy in Afghanistan during a surprise trip to Bagram Air Base on Thursday. Pence said that Trump has “put Pakistan on notice” and that the country has much to lose if it continues to harbor terrorists.

Pence told hundreds of US troops in a speech in an airport hangar Thursday that too often Pakistan has provided “safe haven” to the Taliban and other terrorist groups. He said that those days are over.”

The vice president said that Pakistan has much to gain from partnering with the United States. But he says, “Pakistan has much to lose by continuing to harbor criminals.”

Earlier, US Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced trip on Thursday to meet with Afghan leaders and US troops.

Pence arrived on a military plane at Bagram Airfield before traveling by helicopter to Kabul to meet with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah at the presidential palace.

He later traveled back to Bagram to address some of the estimated 14,000 US service members stationed in the country who provide training and assistance to Afghan forces in their 16-year battle against Taliban insurgents and other extremists.