ISLAMABAD: The Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar, undertook a daylong visit to Kabul on Sunday and met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and discussed with him cooperation between the two countries in the ongoing war against terrorists.

According to a handout issued from the Presidential Palace in Kabul in Pashto and Darri languages, the Afghan president and the ISI chief discussed the modalities “to strengthen the joint efforts of the two sides in the fight against terrorism and extremism” in both countries.

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The two sides agreed to strengthen the cooperation to ensure peace and security in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the whole region.

This was the second visit of the ISI chief to Afghanistan after the Taliban attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on Dec 16 in which over 140 people, mostly students, had died.

Cooperation in efforts against terrorism discussed

He had earlier accompanied Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif during an unscheduled visit to the Afghan capital on the day after the Peshawar attack to share vital elements of intelligence information with President Ghani and the commander of the coalition forces in Afghanistan, Gen John Campbell, about the involvement in it of the militant groups present on Afghan soil.

The army chief had got assurances from the Afghan government and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan for action against a Kunar-based Taliban splinter group believed to be behind the school massacre. An operation was carried out in Kunar on the basis of the intelligence shared by Pakistan.

During the visit, Mr Ghani had reportedly assured Gen Sharif that the use of Afghan soil would not be allowed for terrorists’ activities against Pakistan and any signature found in this regard would be immediately eliminated.

Published in Dawn January 12th , 2014

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