ISLAMABAD - Army Chief General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday held meetings with the Afghan President and ISAF commander in Kabul and shared with them the evidence related to the Peshawar massacre’s linkage with the TTP sanctuaries in Kunar and Nuristan provinces.
According to details available with The Nation, the COAS rushed to Kabul along with the ISI DG after seeking instructions at highest level and warned Afghan authorities to take decisive action against the TTP sanctuaries or else Pakistan would go for ‘hot pursuit’.
According to a senior security official, Pakistan made it clear to the Afghan authorities that, “We’ll explore all options, including hot pursuit if Afghan authorities fail to act this time.”
The statements of “Hot Pursuit” were given by the Prime Minister of Pakistan and Army Chief on Tuesday after the terrorist attack in Peshawar.
The statement released by the ISPR stated that General Raheel Sharif visited Afghanistan and held separate meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and General John F Campbell, ISAF commander. Matters related to security situation along Pak-Afghan border region came under discussion.
General Raheel travelled to the Afghan capital after security agencies found evidence that the Peshawar attack, which killed 141 people, including 132 children, was planned inside Afghanistan by the Mullah Fazlullah group. Taliban commander Umar Naray masterminded the Peshawar attack from Afghanistan. The army chief shared classified intelligence details with the Afghan officials and revealed to them that the mastermind behind the Peshawar attack, who was from Afghanistan, was giving directives to the assailants.
During the meeting with his Afghan counterpart and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the COAS presented the evidence and clarify that Pakistan wanted immediate action against the TTP hideouts.
According to ISPR, during the meeting the vital elements of intelligence were shared with concerned authorities, with regard to the Peshawar incident.
The ISPR claimed that the Afghan President assured General Raheel Sharif that Afghan soil will not be allowed to use for terror activities against Pakistan and any signature found in this regard will be immediately eliminated. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said Afghanistan stood by the people of Pakistan in their hour of grief.
General Raheel also met International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) commander General Joseph Dunford who also condemned the attack, assuring complete cooperation in countering terrorism and security-related matters.
General Raheel also sought Kabul’s help in order to extradite top Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief Mullah Fazlullah who is wanted for terrorism cases in Pakistan.
“His communications have been intercepted which helped security agencies trace his location and whereabouts that was urgently shared not only with the Afghan army but also with Nato forces,” a security source said.