RAWALPINDI – Afghanistan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Shukrullah Atif Mashal on Friday called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
The COAS welcomed the ambassador to Pakistan and expressed hope that his services would help optimise the mutually beneficial bilateral relations, the ISPR said in a statement.
The two figures also discussed the regional security situation and the Afghan peace process at the meeting, it added.
Earlier on today, Sindh Additional Inspector-General Ameer Shaikh claimed that India’s premier spy agency, Research Analysis Wing (RAW), sponsored the November attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi as the provincial police completed the probe on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, Shaikh said the attack was executed by members of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) with support from the Indian intelligence agency.
“Five terrorists involved in the attack have been arrested,” the senior cop told the media.
“The attack was planned in Afghanistan,” he added. Further, Dr Shaikh shared, “Weapons for the attack were transported from Quetta to Karachi through train service and kept in a house in Baldia Town.”
“The suspects stayed at a residence in Baldia Town belonging to a man named Arif,” he further said. “They conducted a recce of the Chinese consulate for four months.”
The additional IG said, “Only one suspect remains to be arrested.”
He shared several photographs “recovered from the cell phones of the terrorists”. One of the attackers was a cousin of Aslam alias Acho — the alleged mastermind of the attack — while another was the brother-in-law of another high-profile terrorist, who is considered to be the second to Acho, said Shaikh.
Shaikh added that there were reports that Acho and some other high-profile terrorists had been killed in an attack in Afghanistan but he refused to believe the news until and unless he “sees the bodies or any solid proof”.
The purpose behind the attack was to create a rift between Pakistan and China and sabotage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, he asserted.
