ISLAMABAD – Ahead of the visit of the US Defence Secretary, Pakistan has welcomed an American offer to take action against terrorists involved in cross-border attacks from Afghanistan, the Voice of America radio service reported on Wednesday.
The news outlet added that Pakistani officials have seen the offer as a good omen for regional cooperation to tackle terrorism.
The offer has been extended by General John Nicholson, commander of US forces in Afghanistan.
It is expected that US Defence Secretary James Mattis will land in Islamabad on December 3 to get the support of Pakistan for implementing the US recent policy on Afghanistan. The strategy aimed at pushing the Taliban for talks by defeating them in the war.
Pakistan has been stressed on defusing the Afghan tension by holding dialogues between the militants and the Afghan government.
Earlier, it rife in the media that US military chief Gen Joseph Dunford would also visit Pakistan before Mattis but his visit is not confirmed yet.
Talking to VOA, Pakistan Army’s spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor said that his country has always offered and sought cooperation to improve border security.
“Unilaterally Pakistan, having cleared all areas on Pakistan side, has restored the writ of [the] state, including steps like enhancing [troop] presence along the border [with Afghanistan], establishing new forts and posts and has also started to fence the border to deny freedom of movement to illegal crossers and terrorists.” Ghafoor explained.
During a press conference on Monday, General John Nicholson said his offer was meant to discourage Pakistan’s army from attacking civilians across the Afghan border while responding to cross-border attack by terrorists.
“We have also offered if they [Pakistan] have a concern about anything on this side of the Durand Line [the border] to let us know and we will act against it so that it is not necessary for cross-border shelling to occur,” said the U.S. general.
Last week, Afghan officials claimed that Pakistani forces allegedly fired hundreds of mortar shells for several days on villages into the Afghan border province of Kunar.
https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pakistan-fired-120-mortars-shells-into-afghanistan-to-target-militants-claims-afghan-media/
The Afghan claims regarding mortar shell came days after militants carried out cross-border attack Pakistani check posts killing several troops and injuring dozens.
