WASHINGTON: The joint US-Pakistan operation that was undertaken to rescue a North American couple from Taliban has been highlighted as one of the top achievements in the official White House year-ender, according to a local English daily.
The new US strategy for Afghanistan that was launched in August this year is also being hailed as a sign of US President Trump’s resolve to win the Afghan war.
In October, Pakistani troops rescued a kidnapped US-Canadian couple and their children in Pakistan, nearly five years after being abducted in neighbouring Afghanistan.
American Caitlan Coleman and her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, were kidnapped while backpacking in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban.
While announcing the rescue operation, Trump had said that it was a positive moment for Pakistan-US relationship, adding that this was a sign that Pakistan was honouring America’s wishes for it to “do more” to provide security in the region.
While announcing the strategy, Trump had asked Pakistan to ‘demonstrate its commitment to civilisation, order and to peace” by disassociating itself from the “agents of chaos, violence and terror”.
The new US strategy, however, warns against the possibility of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists and being used against the United States.
The White House year-ender claims that the new strategy “strengthens our support for Afghan security forces, delegates authority to military leaders, and demonstrates our resolve to defeat terrorism.”
