ISLAMABAD: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Raheel Sharif on Wednesday arrived in London on a three-day official visit.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to UK Syed Ibne Abbas and senior British defence officials received the army chief upon his arrival.

During his visit to London, the COAS will meet senior British political and military leadership and will also interact with think tanks and strategic institutions.

Sources told Dawn that Gen Raheel will take British military and political leadership into confidence over Pakistan's perspective on the regional security situation, with particular reference to Afghanistan and eastern borders.

The COAS is also expected to brief British leaders on Pakistan's war against terror and the ongoing Operation Zarb-i-Azb.

Pakistan's military in mid-June had launched an all-out operation, named 'Zarb-i-Azb', against Taliban militants in the region which is still under way. Moreover, months into Zarb-i-Azb, the army also launched Khyber 1, an operation to clear out militant strongholds in the tribal region of Khyber.

The operation in Khyber saw an escalation since the attack on Peshawar's Army Public School that claimed the lives of over 140 people - most of them children. After the attack, army chief General Raheel Sharif also secured assurances from Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) commander General Joseph Dunford over complete cooperation in security-related matters.