BERLIN, September 09 (AFP) - Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said Monday the battle against insurgents in his country must be taken to its "breeding ground" in neighbouring Pakistan. Spanta, speaking in Berlin after talks with his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said "the geographical approach" to stamping out unrest in his country must be broadened. "The ideological and military training camps (for extremists active in Afghanistan) are in the mountains of Pakistan," he told reporters, calling the region a "breeding ground for terrorists". "We need to stop that. We must not give them the chance to use terror as an instrument of foreign policy." Spanta, speaking in German which he learned as a political refugee and student in the western city of Aachen, said Kabul supported Pakistani president-elect Asif Ali Zardari and would aim to work with him on regional security issues. His remarks came after at least 21 people including women and children were killed Monday in a missile strike by suspected US drones near a madrassa or Islamic seminary in a Pakistan tribal town near the Afghan border. It was the fourth such strike in the rugged tribal region in almost a week .

US and Afghan officials say Pakistan`s tribal areas are a safe haven for Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants who sneaked into the rugged terrain after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001. Asked about US air strikes that Afghan and UN teams say killed more than 90 civilians, Spanta said Washington played a "decisive role in the fight against terrorism" and remained one of Afghanistan`s most important allies on security. He added that insurgents used civilians as "human shields". "But a single innocent victim is too many, not to speak of more," he said. "Coordination between the international community and the Afghan army is urgently needed. We should better coordinate our military attacks." Steinmeier expressed his condolences for a woman and two children shot dead last week at a checkpoint manned by German and Afghan soldiers in northern Afghanistan. An unconfirmed media report at the weekend said Berlin paid 20,000 dollars in compensation to the victims` relatives. The German minister, who was nominated by his Social Democratic Party Sunday to challenge Chancellor Angela Merkel in next September`s general election, said Berlin would increase its reconstruction aid for Afghanistan by 30 million euros next year to 170 million euros (240 million dollars) .