ISLAMABAD - A high-level Afghan security delegation will visit Pakistan today to discuss security-related issues with their Pakistani counterparts.
According to sources, the meeting is taking place to allay concerns of both sides discussed in the recent meeting between Afghanistan’s National Security Advisor Dr. Rangin Dafdar Spanta with his Pakistani counterpart Sartaj Aziz held in Islamabad last week. Major General Afzal Aman, Director General Military Operations (DGMO) Afghan National Army, will lead the six-member delegation in the talks.
The Pakistani DGMO will lead Pakistani delegation in the talks seen as very important at a time when Pakistan is seeking Afghanistan cooperation to boost security on the border to stop fleeing militants from crossing the border.
The sources said that Pakistan would take up the issue of the Pakistani Taliban hideouts on the other side of the border in Thursday talks and that that the Afghan and Pakistani officials would also visit the Pak-Afghan border to assess the situation.
“This is a follow-up meeting to discussions on the issues discussed held during the last week visit to Islamabad by President Hamid Karzai’s top security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta’s to “enhance their security coordination,” the sources said.
Spanta also delivered a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from President Karzai, containing seven conditions for cooperation in the North Waziristan operation including a halt to the alleged “rockets and artillery fire” into Afghanistan.
Despite recent tension over the alleged cross-border incursions both countries have kept high-level contacts to enhance security cooperation.
Last week the two sides had agreed to establish a Joint Working Group on Security aimed at focusing on strengthening bilateral security cooperation. The joint working group is co-chaired by the Pakistan Foreign Secretary and Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister and also comprising representatives of relevant security institutions.
The military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa on Tuesday had reiterated demand of the Afghan government to dismantle the “sanctuaries of the Pakistani Taliban leadership” on its side of the border for the success of the ongoing major offensive in North Waziristan tribal region.
He had also urged the Afghan forces either eliminate or handover the Pakistani Taliban chief, Maulvi Fazalullah, who controls his fighters in Pakistan from across the border.
He said Pakistani government has taken up the issue of Fazalullah and the presence of other TTP leaders with Afghan officials through diplomatic and military level.