ISLAMABAD - Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday offered help to Afghanistan in eliminating terrorist safe havens in their border areas as Pakistan had done on its side.
Chairing a security meeting at Headquarters Lahore Corps, the army chief said that the concurrent blasts at Kabul and Lahore were testimony of our stance that both Pakistan and Afghanistan were victims of terrorism and would continue to suffer if those actors were able to use Afghanistan territory with impunity.
He said that regional actors and hostile intelligence agencies were fully involved to use terror as policy tool, and reiterated that Pakistan was ready to help Afghanistan to eliminate terrorist safe havens in their border areas as Pakistan had done on its side.
According to a release issued by the ISPR, the army chief was given detailed update on Operation Raddul Fasaad and Monday’s blast.
Expressing his sympathies with the victims and their families, the COAS said that such incidents could not lower army’s resolve to eliminate terrorism from its roots.
“We are making gains in breaking connectivity between terror masterminds and their facilitators/ executors,” he said, and added that the army fully supports and stands with the police and other law enforcement agencies in their role as first responders.
The COAS said, “We have fought against terrorism as a nation and the key to success is national participation by reporting every suspicious activity to the security forces.”
Later, the army chief visited injured of the blast at the general hospital.
Lieutenant General Sadiq Ali Commander Lahore Corps and Inspector-General Police Punjab were also present.