ISLAMABAD: General Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), called on Pakistan’s Army Chief General Asim Munir, the Pakistani military said on Monday, adding the two figures discussed the regional security situation among other affairs of mutual interest.
The meeting comes at a time when Pakistan is witnessing a surge in militant attacks in its northwestern and southwestern parts that border Afghanistan.
The attacks particularly increased after the Pakistani Taliban ended their fragile truce with the government in Islamabad in November last year. The militant group, which maintains sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
“During the meeting matters of mutual interest, regional security situation and defense cooperation were discussed,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, said in a statement.
“Both reiterated the desire to further enhance bilateral relations in all fields.”
Last week, Pakistan’s special representative to Afghanistan, Ambassadors Asif Durrani, also visited Kabul where he raised the issue of militant attacks with the Afghan Taliban authorities, a Pakistani Foreign Office spokesperson said.
The meeting came days after militants attacked a military installation in Pakistan’s Balochistan province and killed nine soldiers, with Pakistan expressing concerns over the presence of militant “safe havens” in Afghanistan and asked Kabul not to allow the use of its territory for attacks inside Pakistan.
Last week, the US State Department said it retained the ability to conduct its own operations against militants in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region and did not depend on the Taliban’s promises. The comments came in response to a question about recent attacks in Pakistan from militant hideouts in Afghanistan.
“I will say that we will hold them to their commitments. But as we have said before, we retain the ability to conduct our own operations in the region to ensure that, regardless of any promises that the Taliban make and regardless of their relative ability or willingness to uphold them,” State Department’s spokesperson Matthew Miller said.
Islamabad says it has time and again raised the matter of the Pakistani Taliban sanctuaries with the Afghan Taliban authorities, but there has been a lukewarm response from Kabul. Afghanistan denies the claims it has any militant sanctuaries on its soil.
