ISLAMABAD: The president of Afghanistan, Ashraf Ghani, telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday evening and condemned the recent terrorist attack on PAF base near Peshawar, said a statement issued by PM House.

According to details provided in the statement, the Afghan president denounced the attack on Badaber Airforce base and extended his “heartfelt condolences on the demise of civilians and military personnel in the incident”.

Ghani reiterated his government's stance that “Afghanistan will never allow its land to be used against Pakistan by anyone”.

Earlier this week, the government of Afghanistan had strongly rejected the claims as baseless that the attack on PAF camp in Peshawar was planned and controlled from Afghanistan.

In a statement issued by the office of Afghan president, it was mentioned that the Afghan government has never, nor will it ever allow its territory to be used against other countries.

However, the military and government of Pakistan claims that the attack on PAF Badaber camp was planned and controlled from Afghanistan.

Adviser to Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz said on Sunday that initial investigation into the attack on a PAF camp had proved terrorists’ contacts within Afghanistan.

The announcement came two days after over a dozen armed men stormed a PAF camp in Peshawar, killing 29 people including a captain of the Pakistan Army and officials of the Pakistan Air Force.

“There are evidences that terrorists had telephonic contacts within Afghanistan. Since Tehreek-i-Taliban Pak­istan leadership is in Afghanistan, the possibility of terrorists’ contacts within Afghanistan cannot be ruled out,” he said while speaking to a private TV channel.

“It is not the first incident that terrorists had links within Afghanistan. The December 16 attack on Army Public School was also planned in Afghanistan and its information was passed to Afghan authorities,” he recalled.

Mr Aziz said when Pakistan’s army chief went to Kabul, the Afghan government’s response was positive, an action was taken and many outlaws were apprehended.

“Now again, there is evidence that terrorists had received phone calls from Afghanistan. Further investigation is under way and will be shared with Afghan authorities on completion,” he said.

Defense analyst and PML-N Senator Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qayyum welcomed this gesture of Afghan President Ghani and stressed that join efforts like intelligence sharing are very much important to eliminate terrorists from the soil of both the countries.

While talking to Dawn.com, Qayyum said, “Ghani is an experienced politician, he understands that terrorists are the enemy of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.”

“He is facing a lot of internal pressure from his opponents as well as the Indian lobby active in Afghanistan that Pakistan is creating problems for Kabul but Ghani believes on bilateral cooperation to counter terrorism,” said the former military general.