- Gen Sharif visits Kabul, seeks Afghan, ISAF cooperation in tracking down TTP chief Fazlullah
- Says will engage in hot pursuit inside Afghanistan if Peshawar attack perpetrators are not handed over by Afghan govt
During a daylong visit to Kabul on Wednesday, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif separately met Afghan President Dr Ashraf Ghani and International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander General John F Campbell and sought immediate arrest and repatriation of banned Tehreek-e-Pakistan (TTP) chief Mullah Fazlullah, whose group had claimed the responsibility of slaying 132 minor students and 12 staffers of the Army Public School (APS), Warsak Road, Peshawar on Tuesday.
The COAS, who was accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Rizwan Akhtar, informed the Afghan president that the Peshawar attack was “Pakistan’s 9/11” and if the Afghan government failed to arrest the attack’s mastermind, Pakistan Army would use all its available options including hot pursuit inside the Afghan territory to arrest the TTP terrorists, sources told Pakistan Today.
Sources added that Pakistan has credible evidence which suggests that the terror attack had been conceived and planned on Afghan soil and its mastermind was also present there.
During the meetings, General Sharif also shared Pakistan’s intelligence data regarding the handlers and masterminds of the terrorist attack on APS.
“Matters related to security situation along Pak-Afghan border region came under discussion. Vital elements of intelligence were shared with concerned authorities with regard to the Peshawar incident,” said the statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
“The Afghan president assured General Raheel Sharif that Afghan soil will not be allowed for terrorist activities against Pakistan and any signature found in this regard will be immediately eliminated,” the statement added.
“COAS also assured the Afghan president of full support to the unity government in all spheres including joint efforts against terrorists. The ISAF commander also assured of his complete support in eliminating terrorist in his area of responsibility,” the statement said.
After the daylong visit, General Sharif landed back at the Peshawar airport in the evening and held a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, briefing him about his visit to Afghanistan.