"We are resolved to combat terrorism until it is completely removed -- we will fight terrorism together in a coordinated manner," President Pervez Musharraf [Images] said after talks with visiting Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was the guest of honour at the military parade held in Islamabad on the occasion of  Pakistan's National Day today.

Terming the fight against terrorism in the region a "success story," Musharraf said Pakistan had been successful in destroying the sanctuaries and communication links of terrorists who had taken refuge in the country's tribal region bordering Afghanistan.

"This force (terrorists) stands defeated, although they are still there in small pockets, we have broken the communication linkages; now what we need is to destroy their penny pockets. We expressed satisfaction that we have been successful in the campaign against the menace, we are succeeding in our tribal areas bordering Afghanistan," he said.

Karzai, who held talks with Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz today said Afghanisan fully backed President Musharraf's call for addressing the menace of extremism in its long-term perspective.

"Afghanistan has wholehearted support for President Musharraf's emphasis and we have been conveying to the world community to commit itself to addressing the problem through a process of socio-economic uplift of the Muslim countries," he said.

Before Karzai left for home today, the two countries signed five agreements to increase bilateral relations in various fields.

These include launching of bus service between Peshawar and Jalalabad and between Quetta and Kandahar; and cooperation between the two countries in the fields of culture, tourism and media. They also signed a protocol to enhance regular consultations between the foreign Ministries.

After talks with Karzai, Aziz said "Both the countries enjoy deep-rooted historic and friendly relations and hoped that these relations would be further strengthened with the current visit of Afghan President."

He said they also discussed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan- Pakistan (TAP) gas pipeline issue and it has been decided that Afghanistan will provide corridor for this project.

TAP assumes significance after US expressed its concerns to India and Pakistan over their plans to build a gas pipeline with Iran.