RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday made a brief stopover in Kabul where he attended the change of command ceremony for the Resolute Support Mission and met with top Afghan leadership.
Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Asim Bajwa said the COAS discussed regional security and border management in meetings with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS) Gen Joseph Dunford, Gen Lloyd J Austin Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) and Resolute Support Mission Commander Gen Nicholson. The meetings focused on checking cross-border movement of terrorists and coordination regarding the Pakistan Army’s Shawal offensive. The COAS reiterated Pakistan’s support to the Afghan leadership, Bajwa said, who acknowledged the Pakistan Army’s efforts and achievements in the war against terrorism and its role in regional stability and peace.
Gen Raheel was on his way back to Pakistan after a day-long visit to Tajikistan, where he met with Tajik President Emomali Rahmon and discussed challenges regarding fighting terrorism and the Afghan peace process. The visit comes as a gunfight and explosions have been reported the consular area in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad, where both the Indian and Pakistani consulates are located. The COAS separately held meetings with the US military leaders. Focus of the discussion in the meetings was regional security, border management, operational coordination in Shawal operation to check terrorists trying to flee across border into Afghanistan.
