SELDOM is the outcome of a counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan of such direct significance to those on this side of the border. However, a joint Afghan-US raid on Tuesday in Paktika province led to Pakistan’s most high-profile kidnap victim, Ali Gilani, being rescued after three years in captivity.

The son of former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had been abducted by gunmen from an election rally in Multan on May 9, 2013, in an attack that killed his secretary and bodyguard.

According to US officials, the commando raid on Tuesday targeted an Al Qaeda compound in response to intelligence about terrorist activity in the area.

It seems that seven officials of the Fata Development Authority, who had recently been kidnapped from South Waziristan, were also recovered in the same operation. Indications are that the captives were being held by an Al Qaeda-affiliated group, possibly the Pakistani Taliban.

As in the case of Shahbaz Taseer, who was recovered two months ago from Kuchlak in Balochistan after four and a half years of being kidnapped, Ali Gilani’s safe return to his family has sparked much jubilation in the country.

As in the earlier instance, details about his captivity or rescue may never come to light. For instance, it is still unclear whether the US-Afghan forces had any idea they were on a rescue mission or whether they stumbled upon the captives in a stroke of good fortune; or for that matter, whether intelligence originating from Pakistan played any role at all in the operation.

Regardless of the fine print, the happy outcome has generated a fair amount of goodwill all around and could offer an opportunity to improve bilateral ties and cooperation between the countries’ security forces.

The reality is that both Pakistan and Afghanistan have a militancy problem; the two also share a border that is already difficult to monitor in many places. That is a boon for terrorist/criminal networks that slip easily back and forth evading capture.

Moreover, deadly attacks carried out in Afghanistan by militants allegedly finding shelter in Pakistan have repeatedly soured the relationship between the two countries, often at crucial times.

The importance of intelligence-sharing by the two countries cannot be overstated. In the aftermath of this episode, one must also spare a thought for the less high-profile victims of kidnapping and enforced disappearances whose stories remain untold, but who are nevertheless equally precious to their families.

Published in Dawn, May 12th, 2016